History of Flooding

Appleby has a long history of flooding specifically The Sands area. Several areas of the town are naturally low lying and therefore most liable to flooding, these areas include St Lawrence Church and the main centre of the town including The Sands.

The first known evidence of flooding in Cumbria is from 1571 however the first known account and evidence of flooding in Appleby is from 1733. More detailed accounts of the flood events affecting the town are known from 1771. In the 200 years between 1815 and 2015 there have been 67 floods (where at least one property was flooded) recorded in 53 different years.

Apart from 2015 the other significant years when the most extensive and serious events took place were: 1817, 1822, 1856, 1925, 1968 and 2005. The majority of the floods occurred during the months of November-February, with few outside of these months. 1819, 1855, 1898, 1912 and 1928 were the only recorded flood events in summer. No deaths have been directly attributed to flooding in the town and the deepest that the flood water is reported to have attained is 1.83 metres (6ft) – the same as reported during Storm Desmond.

In December 2005, approximately 53 properties flooded in Appleby when the defences were overtopped. In The Sands area of the town, 35 properties flooded on three separate occasions. This area is more vulnerable to flooding as it is not protected by the flood defence scheme completed in 1995.

After the December 2005 flooding, around 45 properties received funding from one of the first national pilots for property level protection. The local Environment Agency Flood Resilience Team also worked with the local community to develop a flood action plan, so local people know what to do when there is a risk of flooding.

In the November 2009 flood event, the River Eden overtopped its banks and flooded four properties on The Sands.

The December 2015 event was of significantly greater magnitude than past events and the flow in the River Eden was the highest level ever recorded (6ft).

Gallery