Westmorland

Westmorland (formerly also spelt Westmoreland, an even older spelling is Westmerland) is an area of north-west and one of the 39. It formed an from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of.

Early history
At the time of the in 1086 the county was considered to form part of. The baronies of Kendal and Westmorland were originally distinct jurisdictions with separate sheriffs, but were formed into a single county of Westmorland in 1226/7.

The historic county boundaries are with to the north,  and  to the east, and  to the south and west. forms part of the western border with, and part of the border with Cumberland.

The highest point of the county is at 950m (3,117 ft). According to the 1831 census it covers an area of 485,990 acres.

, the historic county town, formed a historic borough and was unreformed by the ; although reform came later in 1885. was reformed as a municipal borough in 1835.

Division into wards
Rather than being divided into s, Westmorland was subdivided into two of  (or sometimes Appleby) and.

The baronies were further subdivided into two wards each:


 * Westmorland
 * East ward -, , , ,
 * West ward -, , , , ,


 * Kendal
 * Kendal ward -, , , , , ,
 * Lonsdale ward -

Modern history
In 1889, under the, a county council was created for Westmorland, taking functions from the. Westmorland did not contain any s throughout its history so the, or area under the control of the county council, was coterminous with the geographic county. The county council was based at, instead of the historic county town of.

Aside from the two municipal boroughs of Kendal and Appleby, the divided the county into  and. In 1905 a new urban district was formed, while Windermere absorbed the neighbouring Bowness UD.
 * 5 Urban districts:, , , ,
 * 3 Rural districts: West Ward, East Westmorland, South Westmorland

A in 1935 reduced the number of districts in the county:
 * A new Lakes Urban District was formed by the merger of Ambleside and Grasmere UDs and adjacent parishes in West Ward and South Westmorland RDs
 * East Westmorland RD, most of West Ward RD andShap UD were merged to form North Westmorland Rural District
 * South Westmorland RD absorbed Kirkby Lonsdale UD, at the same time losing an area to Lakes UD.

These divisions lasted until 1974. According to the 1971 census, Westmorland was the second least populated administrative county in England, after. The distribution of population was as follows:

In 1974, under the, the county was abolished and its former area was combined with and parts of  and  to form the new county of. The former county now forms part of the districts of and.

Coat of arms
Westmorland County Council was granted a by the  in 1926. The design of the shield referred to the two components of the county: on two red bars (from the arms of the de Lancaster family, Barons of Kendal) was placed a gold apple tree (from the seal of the borough of Appleby, for the Barony of Westmorland). The crest above the shield was the head of a ram of the local breed. On the ram's forehead was a shearman's hook, a tool used in the handling of wool. The hook was part of the insignia of the borough of Kendal, the administrative centre of the county council.

Legacy
Westmorland is still used as a place name by organisations and businesses in the area such as the:
 * In 1974 the council formed for former the borough of Appleby adopted the name Appleby-in-Westmorland.
 * The (founded )
 * The Westmorland County Agricultural Society (founded ), which organises the annual Westmorland County Agricultural Society Show
 * The Westmorland Geological Society (formed )
 * The Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquanarian and Archaeological Society (founded )
 * The Westmorland Youth Orchestra
 * The Westmorland Shopping Centre, Kendal

The southern part of the county, the former Barony of Kendal or that part of Westmorland that is part of, is included in the parliamentary constituency.

In June 1994, during the, the Local Government Commission published draft recommendations suggesting that the border between Westmorland and Yorkshire and Lancashire be restored for. The final recommendations, published in October 1994, did not include such recommendations, apparently due to lack of expression of support for the proposal to the commission.