History of Cummersdale Holmes.
Cummersdale
Holmes lies on the west bank of the River Caldew, between the
Cummersdale Print Works and Holme Head Bay, south of Denton
Holme.
At Holme Head Bay the tall buildings on the water front are all
that remains of Ferguson Brothers Ltd. A once thriving cotton mill
business which brought prosperity and employment to the City
throughout the 1800’s and into the latter half of the Twentieth
Century.
Ferguson Brothers Ltd opened the The Holme Head Works in 1824,
although there was probably a mill on the site since Medieval
times. The mill processed cotton brought in from the United States,
through the Port of Whitehaven and for a short time, Port
Carlisle.
The Mill continued to develop and expand and in its heyday
covered 4.5hectares, (11.12 acres), in 1991 Holme Head Mill closed
it’s doors for the last time.
Joseph Ferguson, the founder of the Holme Head Works, was Mayor
of Carlisle 1836-37. And from 1852-57 represented the City in the
House of Commons. His son, Mr. Robert Ferguson was twice Mayor, and
also M.P. for Carlisle, 1874-1886.
At the southern end of Cummersdale Holmes is the Stead McAlpin
Print Works.
Bulmer's History & Directory Of Cumberland,
1901 states: The calico and furniture print works of Stead,
McAlpin, and Co., have been greatly extended, and now give constant
employment to 300 hands. In the department of hand block printing
the firm ranks amongst the first in the kingdom.
Cummersdale Holmes appears to be
relatively unchanged by human activity, and remains as it always
has been, a little bit of the countryside on the doorstep.
The River Caldew continues to swing across its floodplain at
Cummersdale Holmes. Eroding river banks and depositing
gravel bars, which later become colonised by willow, eventually
accreting into new river banks.
At either end of Cummersdale Holmes we can still see the
industrial heritage of our great City, and its reliance on the
river.