Index
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Ulverston Cumbria
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Towns Index |
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Ulverston Cumbria |
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See also: Stone Circles Furness Abbey |
Ulverston's history begins around AD430 when the Saxons took over from the departing Romans, at the beginning of the so called 'Dark Ages', a period when no records were kept so little is known of what went on. The Domesday Book of 1085-86 a land and property census taken by order of King William I 'The Conqueror', mentions the town of Ulvreston this is rare most of Cumbria is not mentioned in the Doomsday Book the county was at the time in the hands of the Scots.
In 1280 King Edward I granted a market charter to the town. The market was to be held on Thursdays, and still is. Permission was also given for a Fair to be held on the 7 - 9 September each year. The Fair still goes on and is well worth going to see: its climax is a torchlight procession through the town. The Market Charter was of great importance to any town lucky or politic enough to have one, almost guaranteeing an increase in prosperity and status, and Ulverston did indeed see improvements to its economy. King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries of 1535-37 saw nearby Dalton lose its status as the capital town of the locality when the influence of Furness Abbey came to an abrupt end. The title went to Ulverston largely because of its position on the trade routes over the sands from the Cartmel Peninsula and the south to Barrow and other towns on the west coast.
Copyright © EDGE 1997 |