The border region between England and Scotland had a long history of wild lawlessness. Occupation of the area goes back many centuries: The Roman Emperor Hadrian built his wall between the river Tyne in the east and the Solway Firth in the west, to "separate Romans from the Barbarians". Although the wall passes south of Longtown, there were many signs of Roman occupation in the area. Tullie House Museum in Carlisle has some beautiful Roman altars found at Netherby.
For centuries the area was the scene of fighting between the English and the Scots (the battle of the Solway Moss in 1543 was fought just north of Longtown) and between rival families or clans. The area became notorious for its reivers, or raiders, who made a living raiding cattle, sheep (and anything else they could carry) from rival clans. For a history of the Border reivers, see links at the foot of the page.
Longtown, as it exists today, was built by the Graham family of Netherby in the late 18th century. Before then, there had been a few houses on the site, but most of the people lived in small hamlets spread out over the parish of Arthuret. Most of the inhabitants were poor, and the land badly drained.
The Rev. Robert Graham inherited the neglected estate in 1757 and invested his time and money in improving it: he drained much of the land, built houses, roads and schools, and rebuilt the small harbour at Sarkfoot. The town of Longtown was laid out just south of the River Esk, some distance from Arthuret parish church, about half a mile south of the town. Longtown is in the parish of Arthuret, but the parish church was built long before the town.
Further agricultural improvements were made to the estate by Sir James RG Graham, grandson of the Rev. Robert Graham, who inherited the estate in 1824: his innovations on the Netherby estate were widely admired.
A bridge had been built over the river Esk in 1756, which made travelling to Scotland much easier, and there was a busy market in the town, the main trade being in butter and bacon. There was a yearly horse fair, and a visit every year from the cattle drovers from Scotland who came through Longtown on their way to the lucrative English markets.
Many people in Longtown worked as handloom weavers for the Carlisle manufacturers, so carriers went regularly between Longtown and Carlisle, as well as farmers taking their produce to the market at Carlisle. There were many Scots and Irish workers in the area, both as agricultural workers and as weavers. In the late 18th and early 19th century, there were many soldiers stationed in Cumberland, as well as excise men trying to prevent smuggling over the border from Scotland.
Until the opening of the Glasgow road over the iron bridge in 1822, the main route to Scotland went through Longtown, so the coaching inns and blacksmiths of Longtown had a busy trade. At the beginning of the 19th century, Longtown was both busy and relatively prosperous, but later the town suffered from the decline in the textile industry, as well as from the poverty following the Napoleonic wars. The town also suffered from the opening of the new Glasgow road which by-passed Longtown.
The first railway to go through Longtown was the Carlisle to Hawick stretch of the North British Line, the first section of which opened in 1861. This became the famous Waverley line, described in Ewan Crawford’s excellent web site on Scottish Railways
There was also a branch of this to Gretna, and one to Langholm.
A bobbin mill opened in Longtown in 1851, making bobbins for use by the cotton industry, made from wood from the Netherby estate. This closed in 1936.
The best guide to the history of Longtown is the book "Longtown, the last town in England" by Gordon Routledge (Published by Bookcase, Carlisle) which is beautifully illustrated, has a few useful maps and includes transcriptions of various trade directories. (It was still in print last time I checked.)
For more information about the fascinating and turbulent history of the border region and the border reivers: try these links:
Border Reivers site
Electric Scotland (The minstrelsy pages are definitely worth a read)
Lochinvar, by Sir Walter Scott
And, though it deals with the Scottish side of the border, the Statistical Accounts of Scotland website has lots of fascinating details about 19th century life. The pages dealing with Graitney, Canonbie and Dornock in particular give a detailed picture of the border counties.
