COCKERMOUTH, a parliamentary borough and markettown of England, in the county of Cumberland, 25 miles by rail from Carlisle, at the confluence of the Derwent and the Cocker, both of which are crossed by bridges in the immediate vicinity. The town is irregularly built, but is clean and well paved. It has remains of an old castle, built soon after the Conquest, a town-hall, a free grammar school, and a house of correction; and its manufactures include linen and woollen goods, thread, hosiery, hats, and paper. In the neighbourhood are extensive coal mines, which give employment to nearly 2000 workmen. In 1871 the township had a population of 5115; the borough (which returns one member to parliament), with an area of 8467 acres, had 6936. Of the early occupation of the site of Cockermouth conclusive evidence is afforded by the relics discovered from time to time; directly north of the town is a tumulus called Toot’s Hill; and at Pap Castle, about half a mile to the north-west, are the remains of a Roman camp. The barony or honour of Cockermouth was held shortly after the Conquest by Waltheof, lord of Allerdale, and has since passed through a long series of possessors, including the Uinfra villes, Multens, Lucies, Percies, and Nevilles, down to the present Lord Leconfield. The town was captured in 1387 by the Scotch under Douglas; and in 1648 the castle, garrisoned for king Charles, was taken and dismantled by the Parliamentarians. Wordsworth the poet was born at Cockermouth in 1770; and Tickell, the friend of Addison, at the village of Bridekirk, about two miles to the north.