Seascale
Seascale is a small seaside resort, significantly enhanced in Victorian times by the introduction of the Furness Railway in the 1850’s. Rich in history, the village can trace its origins back to an early Norse settlement and to Roman Britain.
The railway opened up Seascale as a popular holiday destination for many families from the North of England. Bracing sea air, miles of clean sandy beaches with safe bathing, and easy rail travel were a must for Victorian holidaymakers.
Today the village retains much of its Victorian charm, including the Water Tower, a listed building used, before Seascale had a proper water supply, to pump water to ‘The Banks’, from a large water tank on the hill where the golf course is now. The former Goods Shed is now the Sports Hall.
To mark the millenium, the former wooden jetty has been reinstated. It is a focal point for fishing, beach casting, wind surfing and water-skiing, and provides a starting point for many of the village walks.
About half a mile north of the town, on private land belonging to Seascale How Farm, is the relatively unknown Grey Croft Stone Circle.
About a mile north of the town is BNFL’s Sellafield Nuclear Site. Here is the site of the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, operating from the early 1950’s until 2004, and the Windscale Nuclear Reactor (Piles) – Britain’s first attempt at a nuclear reactor to produce plutonium for the war effort, which suffered a major incident in 1957. Here also is the Sellafield Reprocessing Plant – a controversial site that converts the spent fuel from nuclear reactors worldwide into re-useable uranium, plutonium, and highly radioactive fission products that will have to be safely stored for thousands of years.
St Cuthbert’s church has an interesting almond shaped stained glass window.
The Seascale Parish Council have published a booklet, available from shops in the village, ‘Village Walks in and around Historic Seascale’.
Seascale Update April 2022
Editor: we received the below information from a past resident of, and visitor to, Seascale.
“The village has a small selection of amenities. On the seafront is Mawson’s ice cream parlour and café, and the village hairdresser. Away from the sea front is another small commercial area housing the Library, doctors surgery, pharmacy and post office, hardware store, Chinese takeaway, Co-op store, pizza takeaway and dog groomer.
“Note: the Parish Council leased a large portion of the public car park to Sellafield which means at busy periods parking can sometimes be a problem.
“Seascale also has several hotels. The nearest banks are in Egremont.”
Image (above) credited to James McCaffrey. February 9th 2023.
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Grid Ref : 037011
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