Did You Know?
💡 Whitehaven was the site of the last enemy attack on a British port — carried out by privateer John Paul Jones in 1778.
Nearby Areas We Cover
Workington, Egremont, St Bees, Cleator Moor, Distington, Hensingham
Local History
About Whitehaven, Cumbria
Whitehaven is a historic port town on the west coast of Cumbria with one of the finest Georgian townscapes in England. The town was planned and developed from the 1660s onwards by the Lowther family, making it one of the earliest planned towns in Britain — predating the Georgian new towns of Edinburgh and Bath. The remarkable grid-pattern street layout, lined with Georgian townhouses, is one of the finest examples of urban planning from this period in the country.
During the American Revolutionary War, the Scottish-born privateer John Paul Jones — later a founding hero of the United States Navy — carried out a daring raid on Whitehaven harbour in April 1778, attempting to set fire to the ships and spike the coastal guns. It was the last enemy attack on a British port, and Jones had served as a sailor's apprentice in Whitehaven in his youth.
The town's harbour has been sensitively regenerated in recent decades and is now a thriving visitor destination. The Rum Story visitor attraction tells the history of Whitehaven's role in the tobacco and rum trades. The Georgian architecture of the town centre is increasingly recognised and celebrated as a remarkable example of 17th and 18th-century townscape.
Hoarding disorder and the need for house clearance affect people in every community across Cumbria — including Whitehaven. Whether you're dealing with a bereavement, a difficult tenancy, or a property that has simply accumulated too much over the years, our team brings the same professional, compassionate approach to every clearance we carry out.