Appleby-in-Westmorland lies in a loop of the River Eden and is overlooked by the Pennine range with the Lake District Fells showing on the western horizon, just a few miles away. Appleby is also only 2 miles from the Western Dales extension in the Yorkshire Dales National park, so is an ideal base for a touring holiday.
The town is the starting point for dozens of walks in the surrounding fell countryside and along the River Eden.
It has kept its old world charm, and the people of Appleby are amongst the friendliest you can find. With the Castle and Norman Keep at the brow of the main street and the town at its foot, it seems as if time has stood still. A walk up Boroughgate can transport you back into Medieval England, while the charm of the riverside walk provides an opportunity to experience the tranquillity of the countryside within a few minutes of the town centre.
Appleby has not been swamped by tourism so visitors will find that all the town’s facilities are available to them.
Everyone is welcome here and all the hotels and guest houses do their utmost to make one’s stay as enjoyable as possible.
There are also a lot of pleasant countryside around and about, ideal for a few hours walk or an evening stroll. You can find more information our walking page – or you can just pick up a map and get going.
Appleby developed as the market town of Westmorland after the Norman Conquest, having a strategic position in the Eden valley. It is a picturesque market town with a great deal of interest and charm.
Appleby’s uncommonly wide main street, Boroughgate, has been described as one of the finest in England. It runs from the north end, by the Cloisters which were designed by Sir Robert Smirke in 1811, to the south end, by the Castle entrance.
At the north end is the Moot Hall, with a plaque above the door dated 1596. The Moot Hall is the home of the Town Council where the Town Clerk’s office is situated on the first floor next to the ancient meeting chamber where the Council still holds its meetings. On the ground floor is the Tourist Information Centre and exhibition room. The beginning and end of Boroughgate is marked by the ‘High Cross’ and the ‘Low Cross’. The High Cross bears the inscription ‘Retain your loyalty, preserve your rights’, and dates from the 17th Century. The Low Cross is an 18th Century copy. The avenue of mature lime trees, planted in the 1870’s is flanked by well-kept properties dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries, including Lady Anne’s Almshouses.
In 2020 Appleby-in-Westmorland was recognised as an Honorary Quidditch Town as the home of Appleby Arrows , in celebration of the new Illustrated Edition of JK Rowling’s Quidditch throughout the ages , an essential companion to the Harry Potter series and guide on the wizards favourite sport. Harry Potter fans will find the banner presented to the town outside the Cupboard Under the Stairs, our Harry Potter shop.
Appleby HeriTage QR Code Trail
Appleby Town Council have launched a new heritage QR trail, which will feature the key heritage sites in the town. Visitors scan the QR code on their phone to listen to a short audio clip and see current, and historic photographs for each of the sites. The trail is currently being piloted and it is hoped it will eventually feature all the key heritage landmarks in Appleby.
Look out for the signs on our Heritage assets, or click here to visit the webpage!
Lady Anne Clifford Trail
The remarkable Lady Anne Clifford devoted much of her time to restoring the neglected estates, castles and churches in the area. Both Lady Anne and her mother, Lady Margaret, are buried in St Lawrence’s Church and commemorated by splendid tombs. In her time there were many beggars, and her concern for those old women in dire need led her to build the almshouses, now called the Hospital of St Anne, on the left side of Boroughgate. Appleby Castle is a private home and is open to the public on a seasonal basis (for information click here)
Literary and Artistic Links to Appleby
BEATRIX POTTER
The Heelis branch of ‘Arnison Heelis’ based in Appleby and previously Heelis Solicitors, has close links to Beatrix Potter. Miss Potter became Mrs Heelis when she married William Heelis who spent many years in Long Marton, Appleby where his father was a rector. Many of William Heelis’ family settled in Appleby and two of Beatrix Potter’s brothers in law, Edward Alexander Heelis and George Heelis, were owners of Heelis Solicitors, then E & E A Heelis. Edward Alexander Heelis was Mayor of Appleby in Westmorland from 1913 to 1920.
Batttlebarrow House is a beautiful Victorian Gothic house on the outskirts of this historic town. On 22nd April 1916, Beatrix Heelis wrote to her publisher Harold Warne, from Battlebarrow House. Mrs William Heelis nee Beatrix Potter was a regular visitor to the house, coming for high days and holidays to where her husband William had spent his schooldays at Appleby Grammar School, lodging with the other Heelis boys in what is now the attic floor of the large Heelis family house. William is also known locally as Appleby Willy due to his strong Appleby connections.
DOROTHY WORDSWORTH
Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of Poet William Wordsworth, attending a girls boarding school in Boroughgate Appleby The building is opposite the Alms houses and is now a private home.
TURNER
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851. In 1831, Turner’s coach stopped at Appleby on its journey between Penrith and Bernard Castle, giving the artist the opportunity to make a few sketches from the town’s old bowling green on the hill overlooking the castle, it is now the view and garden of Battlebarrow House.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
George and three brothers had the same father, Augustine Washington Snr, but George had a different mother (Mary Ball).
Had his father not died in 1743 when George was just 11, it is very likely that he too would have also been sent overseas to England to become a pupil at Appleby School, just as his half-brothers and Augustine Snr himself had been… and the course of American history would have been quite different. For generations Washington boys had been educated at Appleby, one of the finest schools in the north. Though there are 18th century Washingtons in Whitehaven, the Washingtons of America were thought to have hailed from the Westmorland or Co Durham branch of the family.
John Washington went out to Virginia in 1657 and it was he who was the father of Lawrence Washington who married Mildred Warner and had three children, John, Augustine and Mildred. After Lawrence’s death his widow remarried, this time to a Whitehaven tobacco merchant George Gale (1671-1712), whose family traded in Virginia. Mildred may have met George Gale through her husband’s relatives in Whitehaven, or via interests in the Virginia plantations, we are not sure.
Mildred’s second son Augustine was married twice. By his first wife he had Lawrence junior and Augustine junior (Austin) and by his second wife had George (1732-1799), who would become America’s first president.
George was just 11 when his father died, whereas his half-brothers would be in their mid-20s, and so received his education on home soil.