   penrith is a market town in the county of cumbria, england. penrith lies less than  outside the boundaries of the lake district national park. historically a part of cumberland, the local authority is eden district council, which is based in the town. penrith was formerly the seat of both penrith urban and rural district councils. penrith has no town council of its own, and is an unparished area. it is in the eden valley, just north of the river eamont. other local rivers bounding the town are the river lowther and the river petteril. a partially man-made watercourse, known as thacka beck, flowing through the centre of the town, connects the rivers petteril and eamont. for many centuries, the beck provided the town with its main water supply. thacka beck nature reserve provides flood storage which protects homes and businesses in penrith.it is part of alfa (adaptive land use for flood alleviation). eden, alfathacka beck, cumbria wildlife trust ==history==  ===toponymy=== it is generally accepted that the name penrith is of cumbric origin, though the exact etymology of the name has been debated. several toponymists, favour a derivation from the local equivalents to the welsh or cumbric pen 'head, chief' (both noun and adjective) + cumbric 'rid', welsh rhyd 'ford'. on this basis, the name would therefore mean 'chief ford', 'hill ford' or whaley's suggestion: 'the 
Cumberland Eden,_Cumbria Market_towns_in_Cumbria Penrith,_Cumbria Post_towns_in_the_CA_postcode_area Towns_in_Cumbria