Whitehaven Harbour

Summary

A Georgian planned town and harbour on the Cumbrian coast — the best-preserved example of a Georgian planned town in the north of England, with a working harbour, three docks, and the coal-shipping infrastructure of the 18th century.

About this location

Whitehaven was planned and built by the Lowther family in the late 17th and early 18th centuries as a coal-exporting port, making it one of the first deliberately planned towns in England. The street grid is Georgian and regular — Lowther Street, Roper Street, and the surrounding streets follow an orthogonal plan of 17th-century origin. The harbour has three basins (the Old Quay, the North Harbour, and the West Strand), with Georgian warehouse buildings and the harbour walls.

The harbour was the third-largest port in England in the 18th century, exporting Cumberland coal to Ireland. John Paul Jones (founder of the American Navy) mounted a raid on Whitehaven harbour in 1778 — the last foreign attack on a British port. The town retains the Georgian fabric largely intact, making it the most coherent Georgian planned townscape north of Bath.

For productions, Whitehaven gives a complete Georgian harbour town environment with the specific character of a Cumbrian coal-shipping port. The working harbour, the Georgian grid, and the west-facing Irish Sea exposure give a distinctive visual. Cumberland Council handles filming permits.