Welcome to our Website

This site introduces you to the Lorton and Derwentfells Local History Society, L&DFLHS, its activities, its publications, and historical resources. For more about the Society's role, please scroll down. For news about our next event please click here.

  • Whether you live locally or not, you can join as a member for £13 annually or £20 for two at one address, with the Wanderer and Notices by email. Printed material will be delivered for an additional £4. Your membership includes access to our local history talks at the Yew Tree Hall in Lorton or via streaming on Zoom. The programme of talks and activities for 2026/7 is published  on this page . To join the Society and to supply your email address, please contact Mary Baker, Membership.
    email the society

    • Follow us on Facebook

    The Society has a Facebook page where you can keep up to date with our activities and publications, follow links to relevant material and join the discussion about the local history of our area. You do not need a Facebook account to read the material. Go to our Facebook page by clicking LortonLocalHistorySociety.

    Our area in the County of Cumbria

    A map of our area in Cumbria.
    The Society has its origins, and the home of most of its meetings, in Lorton, which is in the Lake District some four miles south-east of Cockermouth.The principal area of interest of the Society is now the area served historically by Cockermouth as a market town, in co-operation with other people and organisations interested in the history and heritage of this area.

    What does the Society do?

    • The Society is a membership organisation, run by an elected committee.

    • It organises a programme of events for its members and visitors, primarily a series of talks. Additionally it organises historical visits and occasionally walks and exhibitions.

    • It publishes a quarterly booklet called the Wanderer, has previously published The Journal, and occasionally publishes books and other material.

    • Additionally it organises historical visits and occasionally walks and exhibitions.

    • It keeps an archive of historical material related to the area, and provides support to other local and family historians.

    • The Society is a member of the Cumbria Local History Federation, a founder member of the Cumbria County History Trust, and a member of the British Association for Local History.

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