Arnside, Cumbria travel guide and Arnside information

Visit Arnside

Arnside is a village in Cumbria, north-west England, on the River Kent and within the Arnside and Silverdale area of outstanding natural beauty.

The harbour area is the centre of this quiet village and is backed by traditional stone houses, a few shops and a couple of very welcome local pubs. Local monuments include the 19th century Church of Saint James with its various sets of stained glass windows, and the viaduct that crosses the Kent Estuary.

In Arnside you can walk onto the pier, a remnant from when Arnside was a fishing village, and around the harbour and beyond for views along the coast, across Morecambe Bay and back to Arnside, or up Arnside Knott, the hill behind the village, for views across the village and harbour.

Near to the village you can see the Arnside Peel Tower, a sturdy fortress building dating from the 14th-15th centuries as protection for the Arnside villagers when attacked by the Scots and inhabited by the local lord (you can see these Peel Towers in various locations in the north of England).

Note: Since Arnside is on the relatively narrow Kent Estuary at the head of the broad Morecambe Bay it has unusual tide conditions - before high tide the effect of the rising tide across Morecambe Bay forces the tide in Arnside to rise very rapidly. Because this can be dangerous on certain parts of the coast a siren is sounded several times in the couple of hours preceding the high tide.

For more local activities see Arnside and Silverdale area of outstanding natural beauty or, slightly further afield, the Lake District.

You can find more local travel ideas in the Arnside and Silverdale guide and the