Whitehaven

Whitehaven est une ville portuaire de Cumbria, au nord-ouest de l'Angleterre.

1. Géographie

Situé sur la mer d'Irlande, la population en 2001 était de 25 032 habitants.

1. Histoire

Whitehaven n'était encore qu'un hameau en 1578 et se développa grâce à l'industrie du charbon. Ce port fut surpris en 1778 par le corsaire américain John Paul Jones.

1. Sport

Whitehaven possède une équipe de rugby à XIII en Championship (deuxième division).

1. Personnalités liées à la ville

Anthony Bacon (1718-1786), un des premiers entrepreneurs de la fonte britannique et un sidérurgiste, y est née ; Scott Carson (1985-), footballeur, y est né ; William Chapman (1749-1832), ingénieur britannique spécialisé dans les canaux, y est né ; Mildred Gale (1671-1701), grand-mère paternelle de George Washington, y est morte ; Dean Henderson (1997-), footballeur anglais qui évolue au poste de gardien de but, y est né ; Jane Kennedy (1958-), femme politique britannique indépendante (ancienne travailliste) et la première commissaire à la police et au crime du Merseyside, y est née ; Jack Lawson (1881-1965), 1er baron Lawson, mineur, syndicaliste et homme politique, y est né ; William Nicholson (1816-1865), homme politique australien qui fut le troisième premier ministre du Victoria, y est né ; John Scoular (1885-1953), joueur de rugby écossais, y est né ; Jackie Sewell (1927-2016), footballeur qui évolue au poste d'attaquant, international anglais puis international zambien, y est né ; Rod Melvin (1951- ), pianiste, compositeur et chanteur, y est né ; Cory Spedding (1991-), chanteuse, y est née ; William Thomson (archevêque) (1819-1890), ecclésiastique, y est né.

1. Jumelage

Kozlodouy (obchtina) (Bulgarie)

1. Liens externes

Ressource relative aux beaux-arts : Grove Art Online Ressource relative à la musique : MusicBrainz

Portail de l’Angleterre

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Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies 4 miles (6 km) outside the Lake District National Park. It is 35 miles (56 km) south-west of Carlisle. The parish also includes the small village of Sandwith. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 24,040 and the Whitehaven built up area had a population of 22,945. The town's growth was largely due to the exploitation of the extensive coal measures by the Lowther family, driving a growing export of coal through the harbour from the 17th century onwards. It was also a major port for trading with the American colonies, and was, after London, the second busiest port of England by tonnage from 1750 to 1772. This prosperity led to the creation of a Georgian planned town in the 18th century which has left an architectural legacy of over 170 listed buildings. Whitehaven was the site of a major chemical industry after World War II, but both that and the coal industry have disappeared, and today the major industry is the nearby Sellafield nuclear complex, which is the largest local employer of labour and has a significant administrative base in the town. Whitehaven includes a number of former villages, estates and suburbs, such as Mirehouse, Woodhouse, Kells and Hensingham, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast railway line and the A595 road.

Landmark Maritime

Whitehaven Town Hall

Whitehaven Town Hall is a municipal building in Duke Street in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England. The building, which was the headquarters of Whitehaven Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

Government Landmark

The Rum Story

The Rum Story is a visitor attraction in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England. It presents the story of the rum trade and the creation of rum. It is located in an original 1785 trading shop and warehouses. The Rum Story was started with United Kingdom National Lottery funding from the Millennium Commission and opened in May 2000. It was voted Cumbria Tourism's "Small Visitor Attraction" in 2007. The Jefferson family, wine merchants, imported wine and spirits for over two centuries until 1998. Their story is covered by The Rum Story. The first of this family to move to Whitehaven was Robert Jefferson (1704-1779). He became a master mariner working in the tobacco trade from Virginia to Whitehaven. At this time, Whitehaven was a major tobacco importer, capitalising on a position relatively protected from the sequence of wars with the French. In 1832, brothers Henry and Robert Jefferson provided a mortgage on two estates in Antigua that were owned by the heirs of Rear Admiral Sir William Ogilvy (the lead executor was his son, Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet). These were York's Estate (which had 146 enslaved people) and the New Division Estate (309 enslaved people) In 2025, the museum announced plans to update its exhibits to highlight Whitehaven's "glossed over" ties to slavery, using money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, alongside the non-profit Anti-Racist Cumbria, announced they would work with historians to fact-check details. They noted that for years, the involvement of ports like Whitehaven in the slave trade had not been accurately represented. This meant that "intergenerational consequences, including trauma had been ignored". There had been "active avoidance or euphemism", with terms such as "shipping" or the "Virginia Trade" bring used to refer to slavery.

Historic Site Landmark

275 m

Moorside railway station (Cumbria)

Moorside is a proposed railway station on the Cumbrian Coast Line which would serve Moorside nuclear power station. A second railway station to be sited at Mirehouse further north on the line, has also been proposed to serve the accommodation for the workers of the construction phase of the nuclear power station.

Industrial Train

Whitehaven Castle

Whitehaven Castle is a historic building in Whitehaven, Cumbria. It is a Grade II listed building.

Castle Historic Site