About Appleby and the Mid Eden Valley
Appleby is an ancient market town and royal borough situated within a loop of the River Eden. It has a population of approximately 2,500 and is the focal point for many outlying villages and hamlets.It was the county town for the former county of Westmorland, which merged with Cumberland and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire to become Cumbria in 1974.
Appleby is overlooked by the privately owned Appleby Castle, a predominantly Norman structure, which provided the home for Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century. The castle is now privately owned and not open to the public.
Up until 1832 Appleby was a parliamentary borough with two members of Parliament. William Pitt the Younger was MP for Appleby when he became Prime Minister in 1783 and Viscount Howick, who also became Prime Minister when he was known as Earl Grey, also represented the town in Parliament.
Appleby is renowned for the way it has preserved the layout of a traditional English town - a walk up Boroughgate can transport you back into Medieval England.
To the east lies the North Pennines AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). Cross Fell is the highest point on the Pennines at 893 metres (2930 ft) with the distinctive conical peaks of Knock, Dufton and Murton pikes jutting up from the edge. To the west a rim of limestone rock forms a gently shelving escarpment edge.
The valley floor is occupied by the Eden River and its tributaries (River Lyvennet and Hoff Beck) and the fertile riparian lands have long attracted settlers. The Romans marched through this valley between Carlisle and Brough (building a fort at Kirkby Thore), whilst the Vikings were drawn to the rich grazing lands around the river and founded the first settlements of Temple Sowerby, Bolton, Appleby, Great Ormside and Sandford.
To the south-west of Appleby, the river Lyvennet and its tributaries wend their way towards the Eden near Temple Sowerby, spawning a number of small villages in their wake: Crosby Ravensworth, Mauld’s Meaburn, King’s Meaburn, Morland and Cliburn. On the Pennine flanks are the fellside villages of Milburn, Knock, Dufton, Long Marton, Murton and Hilton, whilst on the western limestone edge are the twin villages of Great and Little Strickland.
For more information visit Appleby Town Council's website. You can find out more about accommodation in and around Appleby at Eden District Council's website and Golakes website - but, beware, during Fair week accommodation is in high demand, so look around the wider area.
Images from the fair...
