Where is Whitehaven?
Whitehaven is located on the coast, in the North West of England in the County of Cumbria - close to the Lake District National Park. The town of Whitehaven is in the borough of Copeland and has a population of around 26,000 people.

Prosperity and decline
The town came into being in 1633 when a small fishing village, with nine thatched cottages, came under the ownership of the Lowther family. The Lowthers built the first Quay for the export of coal - the town then began to grow and soon became the second largest port, in terms of shipping, in the United Kingdom.

The harbour in Whitehaven came into being in 1634. During the next couple of hundred years, the harbour expanded and became a major hub for import/export. The harbour was also home to a important ship building industry - over 1,000 vessels where constructed in Whitehaven. Today, only a few ships survive.

Unfortunately, the towns prosperity declined due to the shallow waters of the Solway - this limited the size of ships that could enter the harbour. As the displacement of shipping continued, the deep water ports of Liverpool and Glasgow prospered at the expense of Whitehaven.

Innovation
Whitehaven has been a centre of innovation in the past - mainly due to the work, and investment in coal mining. Saltom Pit was the worlds first coal mine to be sunk beneath the sea - the first  safety lamp, invented by Whitehavens Carlisle Spedding, was used in Saltom Pit. Spedding also pioneered the use of explosives in Whitehaven pits.

In over 300 years, some 70+ pits were sunk in the Whitehaven area. During this time, over 500 people lost their lives in the name of progress. The largest local disaster was in 1910, at Wellington pit where 136 miners lost their lives. Some of those killed in Whitehaven mines were children - they were as young as 12 years of age.

Architecture
Whitehaven was the first post-Renaissance planned town in Britain when Sir John Lowther began construction of the streets (he was inspired by Sir Christopher Wren's designs for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666). Streets were laid in a grid pattern with St Nicholas Church sitting in the middle. The Lowther family created straight streets, stone houses with blue slate roofs, and grand public buildings. There are 250 listed buildings in Whitehaven - the best historic homes are found in the Scotch Street/Roper Street area.

Google Earth: Whitehaven.kmz