Restoring and reviving Appleby as a tourist attraction to benefit the local economy and the people who live and work there.
Appleby in Cumbria has a rich heritage as a market town, dating back to the Middle Ages. Both the Castle and St Lawrence's Church were in existence by 1120, and the town was granted its first royal charter, giving special rights to the residents, in 1176. The annual Appleby Horse Fair, a major cultural gathering which attracts thousands of people every June, was founded in 1685.
Much more recently the town was devastated by the major winter floods of 2015/16. People's homes and businesses and the local economy were badly affected. A number of buildings were damaged and landslides closed the Settle to Carlisle railway line northwards for over a year.
Since the flooding, Appleby has been designated a Conservation Area at Risk and several buildings feature on the Heritage at Risk Register. Tourism is one of the towns' major industries but Appleby had suffered from a decline in visitor numbers in recent years; visitor numbers have bounced back somewhat since the flooding, but boosting tourism further is a major ambition.
The Heritage Action Zone will focus on restoring and reviving Appleby as a tourist attraction, benefitting the local economy and the people who live and work there.
Actions will include:
The Partnership Team are:
Historic England, Appleby Town Council and Eden District Council
You can now follow a real-life property renovation to make a sandstone house ‘ready for rain’.
Cumbria Action for Sustainability are refurbishing a terraced house in Appleby to make it resilient to extreme weather, including flooding.
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