Situated on the east coast of the Irish Sea, 36 miles south west of Carlisle. It has been described as 'The Georgian port beside the English Lakes', and still retains many fine examples of Georgian architecture. Whitehaven is the largest town in the Borough of Copeland, it's history is inextricably linked to the rest of the Borough. The country covered by the Borough of Copeland was formed by the last Ice Age, as the great glaciers receded northwards a land of rivers, jagged peaks, crags and tracts of alluvial silt were revealed.

The earliest occupants of this area (there were very few of them, although remarkably some still survive) were the Stone Age people who lived by hunting and by making primitive implements that were traded with other parts of the country. Sites of their settlements are rare but a Neolithic settlement was discovered in the late 19th century at Ehenside Tarn and a Mesolithic site was escavated at Eskmeals. There are remains of stone circles at Kirksanton, Greycroft (near Seascale) and at Swinside (just north of Millom). The latter is a Megalithic circle of 50 stones. Bronze and Iron Age relics are even rarer, perhaps because adverse climatic conditions prevented further settlement during that period. The Romans were slow in penetrating this far corner of England, but nevertheless, there are numerous remains of their forts and settlements including those at Hardknott, Ravenglass and Moresby. Several of the remains are of great interest, especially the remains of the Roman bath-house at Walls Castle, Ravenglass (it's not quite as high as the Pont du Gard, but it is the tallest Roman building in Britain) and the the extensive remains of a Roman fort 800 feet above sea level at Hardknott Pass.

After the Romans left, Cumbria was pillaged and, at periods, settled by waves of invaders - Angles, Danes, Vikings - and finally the Normans, who began to restore some sort of order after capturing Carlisle in 1092. They built castles at Egremont and Millom and, on the site of an earlier church founded the priory of St. Bees in 1125. This was a Benedictine foundation named after Princess Bega of Ireland who had founded the original church. Although originally a small priory, St. Bees grew in wealth and power, by the middle of the 14th century its lands covered the whole of the present parish of St. Bees with isolated areas elsewhere. The monks had saltpans along the coast and as early as the 13th century were mining coal and quarrying stone which they sent out from Whitehaven. In the 12th century, for example, they shipped out stone for the building of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. In those years of the great power of St. Bees Priory, nearby Whitehaven was merely a small port and was virtually uninhabited. Much further south, however, was Millom where the castle was the home of the Lords of Millom who exercised Jura Regalia - power of life and death - over their subjects. In 1250 this town was granted charters for both a weekly market and an annual fair although both have long since lapsed. At this time too, came the earliest record of iron mining in the Borough - the gift of an iron ore mine at Egremont to the Abbey of Holme Cultram by William, thirt Earl of Albemarle, who died in 1179. Other industries then in being were flour milling and the making of linen thread. Also flourishing in these early years was Calder Abbey, a 12th century Cistercian foundation and one whose ruins still stand today.In the Middle Ages smuggling was a common activity along the Copeland coast, especially at Ravenglass, where the joining of three estuaries provided good opportunities and where excisemen provided the opposition. Battles were often fought out between smugglers and the customs men. The smuggling stories, vary from fact to legend and are very difficult to sustantiate. Great changes in the fortunes of the area followed the Dissolution of the Monastries and the abolition of St. Bees Priory. Some of its properties were sold by the King (Henry VIII) but the manor with its various rights was held by the Crown until 1553 when it was granted to Thomas Chaloner. He, six years later sold it to Thomas Wybergh who mortgaged it the following year to George Lowther. The Priory's closure and the eventual acquisition of the manor by George Lowther led to quite a dramatic change in the fortunes of St. Bees and Whitehaven. The latter emerged as a major sea port, whilst St. Bees declined and became a quiet coastal village.

Today, an enlightened policy of conservation has protected much of Whitehaven's rich archetectural heritage and led to a new sense of pride in the town - (not all the property owners are quite so 'enlightened' - just look at Lowther Castle). Whitehaven is currently undergoing major redevelopment, the likes of which haven't been seen since the late 17th century when the Lowther family controlled the town.