Cartmel Peninsula in the context of "Westmorland"

Lancashire (/ˈlæŋkəʃər/ LANG-kə-shər, /-ʃɪər/ -⁠sheer; abbreviated Lancs) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Preston.

The county has an area of 3,079 square kilometres (1,189 sq mi) and had a population of 1,601,645 in 2024. Preston and Blackburn are located near the centre, Burnley in the east, the seaside resort of Blackpool on the Irish Sea coast in the west, and the city of Lancaster in the north. For local government purposes the county comprises a non-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and two unitary authority areas: Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool. Lancashire County Council and the two unitary councils collaborate through the Lancashire Combined County Authority. The county historically included the Furness and Cartmel peninsulas of Cumbria, northern Greater Manchester and Merseyside, and Warrington, but excluded the eastern part of the Forest of Bowland.

Furness (/ˈfɜːrnɪs, fɜːrˈnɛs/ FUR-niss, fur-NESS) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness.

The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of villages, agricultural land and low-lying moorland, with the industrial town of Barrow-in-Furness at its head. The peninsula is bordered by the estuaries of the River Duddon to the west and the River Leven in Morecambe Bay to the east. The wider region of Furness consists of the peninsula and the area known as High Furness, which is a relatively mountainous and sparsely populated part of England, extending inland into the Lake District and containing the Furness Fells. The inland boundary of the region is formed by the rivers Leven, Brathay and Duddon, and the lake of Windermere. Off the southern tip of Furness is Walney Island, 11 miles (18 kilometres) long, as well as several smaller islands.

The Lonsdale Hundred is a historic hundred of Lancashire, England. Although named after the dale or valley of the River Lune, which runs through the city of Lancaster, for centuries it covered most of the north-western part of Lancashire around Morecambe Bay, including the detached parts of Furness and the Cartmel Peninsula. Ironically, only some of the detached part of North Lonsdale still remains partly within a British parliamentary constituency under the name of Lonsdale, being part of the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

Lonsdale was not recorded as a hundred in the Domesday Book of 1086, but the name does appear, in the returns for Yorkshire, apparently as a manor attached to Cockerham. A number of places within the Lune's watershed are traditionally named with specification of 'in Lonsdale': Kirkby Lonsdale, Burton-in-Lonsdale, and Thornton-in-Lonsdale retain the name, while Middleton, Sedbergh, Ingleton and Newby, near Clapham have previously been recorded with it. Following the creation of the hundred sometime during the late 11th or early 12th centuries, parts of the district were included in Westmorland and others in Craven within the West Riding of Yorkshire. The hundred had been defined by 1168 and the bailiwick was granted to Adam de Kellet (of Nether Kellet) in 1199.

The River Leven (pron. /ˈlɛvən/ LEV-ən) is a short river in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, falling within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. It drains Windermere from its southernmost point and flows for approximately 8 miles (13 km) into the northern reaches of Morecambe Bay. The river and its estuary are the boundary between the Cartmel Peninsula and Furness Peninsula and is part of North Lonsdale, also known as Lancashire North of the Sands.

The upriver limit of tidal flow is close to the village of Haverthwaite. Also at this point is to be found Low Wood Bridge which, until the coming of the railways, was the first bridging point across the river. The Leven is navigable upstream as far as Low Wood, and downstream from Windermere to Newby Bridge.