This postcard of the road at West Causewayhead was very popular in the early 1900s. The scene has changed little today. The village is a very ancient settlement, referred to as Causeyhead, Caury Flat and Calseyhead in documents dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

St Paul’s church was built in 1845 when Holme Low became a parish in its own right, rather than just one of the quarters of Holm Cultram. It was the parish church for Silloth until Christ Church was completed in 1870.

Interior of St Paul's with the original oil lamps.

The Rectory was built, in the ‘Elizabethan Style’ in 1851-2. Cannon Robert Walker was rector from 1898 until 1936. He can be seen in this shot, admiring his garden. During World War II the rectory was used to house members of the Women’s Land Army.

Listen to a short sound clip of Pat Antolak, describing her childhood holidays at the rectory in the 1920s.

Causewayhead Mission was built in the late 1800s as a Sunday School with a reading room and library attached. It has now been converted into two private houses.

Colt Park School opened in 1875 with places for 160 children. Joseph Moor was headmaster between 1897 and 1914.

In the early days of World War II, Silloth Airfield was built, straddling both sides of the road at Causewayhead. Silloth House Farm was completely demolished to make way for it. St. Paul’s churchyard was also extended and became the last resting place for many of the airmen who lost their lives there. The old aircraft hangars still overshadow their graves.

Among the men buried there are Flying Officer S.F. Cleworth of the Royal Canadian Airforce and Flight Sergeant O.E.D. Louden from New Zealand. Both men were killed on December 27, 1943, over the village of Dalston near Carlisle when their Hurricanes collided in mid-air. Cleworth was 19 when he lost his life, Louden was only 18.