Crosby Villa

Crosby Villa
Crosby Villa from across the fields.
Crosby Villa  Crosby Villa shown within Cumbria
Civil parish	Crosscanonby
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Maryport
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Workington
List of places UK England Cumbria

Coordinates: 54°44′16″N 3°24′40″W / 54.73790°N 3.41125°W / 54.73790; -3.41125

Crosby Villa is a village in the civil parish of Crosscanonby in Cumbria, United Kingdom. It is located on the A596 road, roughly three-and-three-quarter miles north-east of Maryport and a similar distance south-west of Aspatria. The village of Crosby is one-and-a-half miles to the south-west, and the hamlet of Oughterside is two-and-a-quarter miles to the north-east. Cumbria's county town, Carlisle, is twenty-four miles to the north-east.^[1] Crosby Villa lies on the Solway Plain, less than one mile from the boundary of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,^[2] and approximately one-and-a-half miles from the shore of Allonby Bay, an inlet of the Solway Firth. Historically, the name may have been spelled Crosby Villas.^[3]

History

During the Roman period, there was a settlement near to the site of modern Crosby Villa called Garborough. The modern village was built to provide housing for miners at Rosegill and Bullgill coal mines during the 19th century. In addition to the seventy terraced houses, a chapel, shops, and a post office were provided, along with allotments for gardening. The chapel was built in 1863. There was no school, however, and the miners' children walked to Crosby to attend the school there. Near to Bullgill coal mine was Bullgill railway station, approximately a quarter of a mile from Crosby Villa, on the Maryport and Carlisle Railway (now a part of the Cumbrian Coast Line). Bullgill pit closed in 1897, and Rosegill a few years later. This began a period of hardship for the village, exacerbated by the General Strike of 1926.^[4][5] Bullgill railway station closed to passengers in 1960, a few years before the Beeching axe. A road haulage firm called Duncan Hill was established in nearby Dearham in 1951, and later relocated to Crosby Villa, from where it continues to operate.^[6] In October 2013, three men were killed in a car accident on the A596 in the hamlet.^[7]

References