St John Beckermet
| Beckermet | |
|---|---|
 St John's church in the village centre |
|
 Beckermet
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| Beckermet shown within Cumbria | |
| Population | 1,619 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | NY0106 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BECKERMET |
| Postcode district | CA21 |
| Dialling code | 01946 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Beckermet /bɛˈkɜːrmɪt/ is a village, civil parish and post town in the English county of Cumbria, located near the coast between Egremont and Seascale. Historically within Cumberland, it is served by Braystones railway station and is less than a mile west of the A595 road. It is around 2 miles (3 km) from the Sellafield nuclear plant which may be seen from the higher parts of the village.
The natural assumption is that the village is so-named because two becks (local dialect meaning streams- specifically Kirk Beck and Black Beck) meet there. However, the name is pronounced with the accent on the middle syllable (over the years, attempts by people to spell the name as they heard it have resulted in versions like Beck Armett in 1570, and Bekyremet in 1279). In the 12th century there was an h in the middle, the earliest known version, from 1130, being Bechermet, so the English Place-Name Society suggests that the name really means "hermit's stream".
Until May 2011 Beckermet was split between two parishes: Beckermet St Bridget (2001 census population 385) to the south east, and Beckermet St John (pop. 1925) to the north west. Arguably, a third parish should be included, as the parish of Haile (to the northeast) extended to within a few yards of St John's parish church, however this extension contains only fields. St Bridget included most of the small village of Calder Bridge, and the hamlet of High Sella field, along with about half of the nuclear plant. A large portion of the population of St John lived in the former mining community of Thornhill, near Egremont. In May 2011 the parish boundaries were changed, and the parishes of St. Johns and St Bridgets were merged to form the new parish of Beckermet, which include Beckermet, Thornhill and the northern part of the Sellafied nuclear site.
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