Kingmoor History
The Kingmoor Ring
The Kingmoor Ring was found at Greymoor Hill, near Kingmoor, a couple of miles north of Carlisle – locals will know this is now the location of Junction 44 on the M6. As is often the case with these old finds, it was found in a completely unremarkable way. A young man was hammering away at a wonky fence some time in the very early 1800s and came across it in the ground. It was in the possession of the Earl of Aberdeen by 1822 and was passed to the British Museum in 1858.
The Kingmoor Ring is gold, with a diameter of 27mm. There is an inscription on it in runes, permanently blackened with niello so the letters still stand out over 1100 years after it was made (that would have confounded Sauron). Another near-identical ring, known as the Bramham Moor Ring, was found in West Yorkshire in the early 18th century.
To quote the British Museum: “various attempts to decipher the inscriptions on these two rings… are not regarded as successful… the sense is very probably magical” 1
The words have been transcribed from runes asærkriufltkriuriƥonglæstæpon tol. The ‘ærkriu’ part is believed to be a spell to stop bleeding, which is also found in a 9th-century anglo-saxon medical manuscript known as Bald’s Leechbook. The rest of the phrase isn’t strictly logical but includes words and terms seen in other known charms2. It does include an Irish phrase for ‘stream of blood’ and a reference to alder.
Alder trees feature in other remedies in Bald’s Leechbook.
There is a replica of the Kingmoor Ring at Tullie House Museum in Carlisle.
Taken from article by Diane McIlmoyle, 07.06.12
1. British Museum
2. See Anglo Saxon England, vol 27 by Michael Lapidge, Malcolm Golden and Simon Keynes (2007), p292.
Kingstown Airfield
Although not within the parish, Kingstown Airfield which was opened in 1931 was built on land adjacent to the parish. It initially comprised a small grass airfield with just a few wooden huts and a single hangar and had to wait until 1933 for the first plane to land.
Regular scheduled services began 12 months later and the border flying club was formed in 1935. On 1st July the first military unit was formed and the no. 38 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School trained pilots for the expanding RAF.
The airfields facilities were extended with more hangars, technical buildings and some accommodation. With the outbreak of the Second World War the civilian operated flying school was closed until November 1939 when it re-opened with the arrival of 12 Avro Ansons and No. 3 Air Observer and Navigator School. In May 1940 15 efts the commanding officer and all civilian staff were moved from Surrey to Kingstown. Over the next 5 years the use of the airfield and training school grew and at the beginning of 1945 the strength of the unit peaked with 108 aircraft being flown by 70 instructors. By August 1945 the unit reduced to 45 aircraft when the war in Europe ended.
The last full flying course to pass through Kingstown began on 13th October 1947 and the unit was disbanded on 31st December 1947. In 1948 all key buildings on the airfield were handed over to Carlisle Corporation.
Involved in a POW escape attempt
RAF Kingstown featured in one of the most audacious escape attempts by any German prisoners of war during World War Two. On 24 November 1941, two German pilots, held at POW Camp No. 15 at Shap in a former hotel and now known as the Shap Wells Hotel, escaped with flying jackets over their Luftwaffe uniforms and carrying forged identity documents that purported them to be Dutch airmen attached to the RAF.
Without any apparent difficulty the pilots entered RAF Kingstown and, with the help of an RAF ground mechanic, started up a Miles Magister trainer aircraft and took off. Short of fuel they landed at another RAF airfield and refuelled. Setting off for the Netherlands they suddenly realised the aircraft’s range was insufficient and they turned back. Landing in a field near Great Yarmouth they were recaptured and taken to RAF Horsham St Faith. Returned to the Shap POW camp to spend 28 days in solitary, both airmen were then shipped to more secure confinement in Canada.
Kingmoor Marshalling Yard
At a cost of £4.5m, Kingmoor New Yard was one of the largest and most ambitious projects undertaken during the modernisation of British Railways. The site chosen for the Kingmoor New Yard was a strip of land alongside the old Caledonian main line to Glasgow which was purchased in 1956 with work beginning 3 years later in 1959. The yard was fully operational in 1963. In the mid 1960’s Kingmoor Yard was very busy. The peak number of trains handled in a day was 134 whilst the largest number of wagons sorted was 4.050.
However the opening of the M6 motorway resulted in a decline in freight services during the 1970’s which continued into the 1980’s. Many have predicted the complete disappearance of the Kingmoor Yard but it is still in existence today.
Kingmoor House, Estate and Gardens
Kingmoor is 3 miles North West of Carlisle. The moor was granted to the citizens of Carlisle for their general benefit but from 1682 onwards the corporation leased out parts of it for private use. Kingmoor House and gardens were built between 1682 and 1712. In 1794 the house was remodelled and enlarged and in this form still survives however its surrounding farmland has all but disappeared cut through by railways and built over by a marshalling yard and a maintenance depot as outlined below.
In 1846 the then owner of Kingmoor House John Burgess, a railway contractor, entered into a contract with Brassey and Mckenzie to excavate the Caledonian railway and in 1847 a newspaper said that the extent of the cutting at Kingmoor was about 103,000 cubic yards. Land was also acquired from the Estate for the North British Waverley line which opened in 1862 and in 1937 newspapers reported that the land at Kingmoor was being surveyed for a proposed RAF Cumberland Equipment Depot. The land was purchased and the depot completed 18 months later. Further land was taken from the estate in 1959 for the Kingmoor Marshalling Yard planned by British Railways and in 1964 again land was purchased by order of the Secretary of State for Defence and became No.1 Site 14 MU.
14 MU
RAF Carlisle (previously RAF Kingstown) was a Royal Air Force establishment, now closed after being used for a variety of roles over a period of fifty eight years and formerly located 2 mi (3.2 km) north of Carlisle city centre in Cumbria, England.
The station was latterly the home of No. 14 Maintenance Unit and occupied the various sites originally used by RAF Kingstown’s Elementary Flying Training School during World War II. The site was usually known both locally and within the RAF by its shortened form of 14 MU. The site had also served for a short period in the 1930s as a civilian municipal airport for the City of Carlisle, but proved to be underused and uneconomic.
The maintenance unit was located on the northern edge of Carlisle, just past the present Asda supermarket, and spread across several different sites. The smallest storage site of Harker was 0.7 km north east of RAF Kingstown and, together with Heathlands which was 0.5 km north, was on the opposite side on the A74. The Cargo site was 1.5 km south west. The maintenance unit was used by the RAF to store and maintain various pieces of equipment ranging from aircraft engine parts to firearms, ammunition to office furniture, aircrew clothing and small hardware items.
Routine requests for items were dealt with by civilian warehousemen during normal working hours. At night a uniformed RAF Duty Officer dealt with urgent and essential “flash” requests from operational flying stations.
The King Garth Fisheries
Since the 12th century fishing on the stretch of water from Carlisle to Solway Firth has been documented through royal charters and legal disputes. The provision of fish to medieval Carlisle was very important. Fish formed a vital part of the diet during 17 and 1800’s.
The fishery at King Garth was mentioned repeatedly in royal charters and in 1733 the Mayor of Carlisle was empowered to contract for the purchasing or leasing of a piece of land for a house for the farmers of the fishery at King Garth. The fishery was located 3.5 miles from Carlisle City Centre 1 mile north west of the village of Cargo – the site of King Garth fishery must have provided good quantities of salmon being located close to the mouth of the estuary.
The King Garth fish house is a two story whitewashed building located on the bank of the river Eden. Over time a change in the course of the river brought about disputes between Carlisle Corporation – who owned the rights to the King Garth fishery – and Lord Lonsdale who owned Burgh Barony, resulting in the fishing in King Garth being leased to the Corporation by Lords Lonsdale who then farmed it out to local farmers.
Ultimately the reduction in fish stock and consequently the rise in price meant the fishing rights were no-longer viable and the fishery was abandoned. Mayoral dinners were then held at the fish house until 1892.
