Dunmail Park

Dunmail Park is a shopping centre located in Siddick, near Workington, in Cumbria, United Kingdom. It is located one-and-a-half miles north of the centre of Workington on the A596, and four-and-a-half miles south of the town of Maryport. It was named for the legendary King Dunmail of Cumberland, who died in 975 AD.

Construction began in 1986, following the purchase of the site by J Dixon & Son, Ltd on land near Siddick ponds which had been in use since the late 19th century for mining and iron working. The iron works previously on the site had, at one time, employed 5000 workers.^[1] Dunmail Park opened to the public in 1988, and is open Monday-Saturday from 07:00 until 23:00, and on Sundays from 10:30 until 23:00. However, individual shop opening times vary, and with the exception of the supermarket, most do not open before 09:00.^[2]

Shops

By far the largest shop in terms of floor space at Dunmail Park is Asda, a supermarket, which took over the largest unit after previous anchor tenant Dixon's moved to a smaller unit in the shopping centre in 2010.^[3] When it opened, Asda employed 330 people from Workington and the surrounding area.

Other shops include Dixon's, Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Brantano, Evans, and Topshop, all of which sell clothes, The Sugar Shack, a sweets shop, and Toytown, a toy and games retailer.^[4]

Looking toward Plaza Cinemas from the entrance. Asda is to the left, Dixons and other shops are to the right.

Subway also has an outlet at Dunmail Park,^[5] in a location which used to be run by Wimpy until 2012.^[6]

There is also a petrol station and car wash on the premises.^[7]

Plaza Cinemas

Dunmail Park gained one of its biggest attractions in 2001,^[8] with the opening of Plaza Cinemas, a multiplex cinema. An independently-owned cinema, Plaza shows most of the major films released in the UK, as well as occasionally independent films and recordings of opera and ballet performances.^[9]

Parking and public transportation

Dunmail Park has 475 car parking spaces available for visitors.^[10] It is served by several bus routes along the A596, which run to several locations, including Workington and Whitehaven to the south, and Maryport, Aspatria, Wigton, and Carlisle to the north and east.^[11] The number 60 from Silloth used to continue on to Workington after passing through Mawbray, Allonby, and Maryport along the B5300, but as of January 2015 it terminates at Maryport.^[12]

Workington North railway station

Following the 2009 flooding in Cumbria, which saw several road bridges in and around Workington destroyed, a temporary railway station, Workington North, was built on the opposite side of the A596 from Dunmail Park. In addition to regular services along the Cumbrian Coast Line, an hourly shuttle service was commissioned between Maryport and Workington. However, Workington North railway station closed in October 2010, after slightly less than a year of operation. The nearest railway station to Dunmail Park is now in Workington.

References