Allerdale

Allerdale was a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with borough status. Its council – Allerdale Borough Council – was based in Workington, and the borough had a population of 96,422 at the 2011 census. The District of Allerdale was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the municipal borough of Workington, the urban districts of Maryport, Cockermouth and Keswick; and the rural districts of Cockermouth and Wigton, all of which were within the administrative county of Cumberland. In 1995 Allerdale was granted borough status. The name derives from the ancient region of Allerdale, represented latterly by the two wards of Cumberland, called Allerdale-above-Derwent and Allerdale-below-Derwent, the present borough corresponding largely to the latter with parts of the former. Much of the area during the medieval period was a royal forest subject to forest law. In July 2021 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that in April 2023, Cumbria would be reorganised into two unitary authorities. On 1 April 2023, Allerdale Borough Council was abolished and its functions transferred to the new unitary authority known as Cumberland, which also covers the former districts of Carlisle and Copeland.