REPORT ON MEETING OF SHAP LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY HELD ON MONDAY 19 th MAY 2008.

Shap Local History Society takes a look at Wigton.

There was a good turn out for Shap Local History Society's meeting held in Shap Memorial Hall, Liz Amos welcomed everyone and introduced Leo Holden of Solway History Society who was to speak on Aspects of Wigton. Mrs Amos reminded members that the summer exhibition was due to open the following weekend, and she made an appeal for stewards.

Mr Holden began by explaining that he is an Openbook Heritage Guide and leads groups around his native Wigton, Carlisle Castle and Hadrian's Wall .

He distributed maps of Wigton, and showed the east end of the town where the travelling folk or gypsies lived, they were locally referred to as ‘potters', and the Wigton dialect word such as mode, gadgey and parley are Romany words.

The town has a large factory, this originally wove silk, but it then changed to making cellophane. The magnificent clock tower at High Moor is still a landmark, it had a carillon, but that and the clock are long gone.

The church is on the site of a Norman building established by Odard, the local Baron, using stone from the Roman fort of ‘Old Carlisle' which lies a mile outside the town. The present church of St Mary is to a design by Sir Christopher Wren, and was constructed using new stone, many of the original stones finding their way into numerous buildings in the town. The tracery from an original window has been re-constructed in the churchyard; nearby there are alms houses built to house clergy widows. There was also a strong Quaker community in the town with a Friends School .

In the churchyard is a stone to the memory of John Woodcock Graves' mother and father, he was to gain fame through composing the song ‘D'ye ken John Peel'. Another famous Wigtonian was Robert Smirke, who was an illustrator and coach painter; he attended the Royal Academy , and his son, also named Robert was to become the famous architect who designed the British Museum and Lowther Castle ..

Mr Holden told the meeting that James Robertson Scott was born at the Royal Oak in Wigton where his parents were licensees; he went on to found and edit the Countryman magazine.

There was a brick works until the 1840s and many buildings are made form these. The dubs there were popular for skating in winter, but a tragedy led to them being filled in. Near the churchyard are houses that have vaulted and reeded cellars, and some having fireplaces made from gravestones.

There were many inns in the town and a series of old postcards showed them, also the bad road surfaces, and street scenes including a row of thatched cottages.

Central to the town is the memorial Fountain erected by George Moore the Victorian philanthropist and native of Wigton in memory of his first wife Elisa, this is made from Shap pink granite and has plaques by Thomas Woolner a member of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood..

A local artist named Hoodless also did some stone carving and his work can be seen in window lintels and doorways. Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins visited Wigton, and their scathing account of the town can be found in the short story ‘The Lazy Tour of the Two Idle Apprentices.' Mr Holden showed a picture of the famous Redmayne tailoring factory, he said that Wigton was a smelly place in which to live as there were tanneries and a dye works, the site of the latter now being the swimming pool.

Mr Holden was thanked by Jean Scott-Smith who said it was good to see such a large collection of old photographs, and that the society were looking forward to visiting Wigton in August when they would be able to see the scenes for themselves.

This was the last indoor meeting until September; next month there will be a visit to Maulds Meaburn Hall on Monday 23 rd June.