Eden was a local government district in Cumbria, England, based at Penrith Town Hall in Penrith. It was named after the River Eden, which flowed north through the district toward Carlisle. Its population of 49,777 at the 2001 census, increased to 52,564 at the 2011 Census. A 2019 estimate was 53,253. In July 2021 it was announced that, in April 2023, Cumbria would be divided into two unitary authorities. On 1 April 2023, Eden District Council was abolished and its functions transferred to the new authority Westmorland and Furness, which also covers the former districts of Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland.
Extent
The Eden District area of 2,156 sq. km (832 square miles) made it, after 2009, the eighth largest in England and the largest non-unitary district. It also had the lowest population density of any district in England and Wales, with a mean of 25 persons per square kilometre.
In 2011, the population was 5 per cent above its 2001 level.
In that detailed survey (to the nearest square metre) it was shown that Eden District had the greatest proportion of green space (which excludes domestic gardens) of any district, 97.9 per cent, as shown by the following extract:
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!District!!% Green space (June 2005)