Cartmel is a village in Furness (traditionally "Lancashire-over-the-Sands", England, 2+1⁄4 miles northwest of Grange-over-Sands close to the River Eea. The village takes its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, and it was historically known as Kirkby in Cartmel. The village is the location of the 12th-century Cartmel Priory, around which it initially grew. Situated in the historic county of Lancashire, since 1974 Cartmel was in the non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county of Cumbria, and for local government, in the unitary authority area of Westmorland and Furness.