You have reached the HOME PAGE of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. Welcome! Good to have you with us.

The Society was founded in 1866 and you can find out about our history by clicking on ABOUT US. IN-HOUSE NEWS is our main channel of keeping in touch with what's afoot, while clicking on ACTIVITIES will give you a yearly outline programme.

   Carlisle, Egremont, Kendal and Penrith are where our AFFILIATED GROUPS meet, these run their own group programmes and GROUPS NEWS page. Membership of an affiliated group is separate from MEMBERSHIP of the CWAAS.

   The Society's work is carried out by the Council and the Standing Committee, along with four committees. The INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY COMMITTEE keeps vigilant about important aspects of Cumbria's industrial heritage and also engages in practical work; the OUTREACH COMMITTEE attends to matters of communication with other bodies having similar interests and with the general public and all aspects of PUBLICITY.

   The PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE undertakes the Society's very substantial and varied publications programme, which includes the annual TRANSACTIONS (an invaluable record of historical and archaeological work relating to Cumbria), and the NEWSLETTER, which appears three times each year.The Society has a substantial LIBRARY, and the librarian and stockholder sits on this committee.

   CWAAS endeavours to be supportive of research relevant to the areas of interest made clear in its name; and consideration for grants, awards and the Clare Fell Bursary is handled by the RESEARCH AND GRANTS COMMITTEE. The CUMBRIA RESEARCH page lists known topics of research on Cumbria carried out at several universities.

   A handy service provided is that of supplying USEFUL LINKS to organisations having similar interests to ours, GENEALOGY LINKS being focused particularly on a strongly pursued study in our area.

   USEFUL CONTACTS will take you to a means of contacting several officers of our Society, while the PICTURES section usually offers photos of members' activities or of Cumbria.

   STAY WITH US AND EXPLORE OUR SITE - you might, for instance, be interested in our CUMBRIA QUIZ for starters. Happy hunting!

CUMBRIA QUIZ

Carlisle Castle

Castle Rigg Stone Circle

You might well recognise the sites in the photos. They're two of the best known sites in the county: the imposing castle of Carlisle, the only city in Cumbria; and Castle Rigg prehistoric stone circle, on the hills above Keswick.

But how good would you be at identifying other important heritage sites in the county?

Have a go at our picture quiz; name 'what' and 'where' for each photo - and decide which county each one was in (C, W, LoS or Sed) before CUMBRIA was formed, in 1974.

Then look at the ANSWERS by clicking on the Answer button under each photo. You can also get a larger version of the picture to open just by clicking on the small picture.

And if you would like to know more about Cumbria's past, don't just read our website: JOIN THE SOCIETY! click on the MEMBERSHIP menu button to the left. Then you'll have a chance to get to grips with the events that shaped our county, and to track down the sites which are the evidence for Cumbria's past.

Click on any picture for a larger version. Due to an issue with the site which is being worked on the larger picture may not open. This will hopefully be resolved shortly. Thank you for your patience.