Keswick, Cumbria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Keswick (disambiguation).

Keswick

Coordinates: 54.5999° N 3.1293° W
Population	4,281 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	NY270233
District	Allerdale
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KESWICK
Postcode district	CA12
Dial code	017687
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Workington
European Parliament	North West England
List of places: UK • England • Cumbria

Keswick is a market town in Allerdale, Cumbria, England. With a population of 4,281, it is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park.

1 Geography and administration
2 History
- 2.1 Etymology
- 2.2 Middle Ages
3 Present day
- 3.1 Convention
4 Places of interest
5 Transport
6 Notable residents
7 Dialect
8 Gallery
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Geography and administration

A view of Derwent water from Keswick.

Keswick is on the A66 road linking Workington and Penrith, as well as the A591 road, linking it to Windermere, Kendal and to Carlisle (via the A595 road). It has a population of about 5,000 (500 more than in 1901).

On January 11, 2005, Keswick was granted Fairtrade Town status.

[edit] History

[edit] Etymology

The town is recorded in the 13th century as Cese-wic, indicating that it acted as a market for cheese.

[edit] Middle Ages

The Moot Hall in the centre of Keswick.

During the 16th century, small scale mining took place in Keswick, and it was the source of the world's first graphite pencils.^[1] The pencil industry remains today, including the Cumberland Pencil Museum and the world's largest pencil.

Keswick was granted a charter to be a market town in 1276 by Edward I of England, the market is held every Saturday in the pedestrianised main street in the middle of the town. The marketplace features Moot Hall which once acted as the town hall but is now a local tourist information office.

[edit] Present day

Today, the majority of Keswick's businesses are tourism related, providing accommodation and facilities for the tens of thousands of people visiting the area each year. The Keswick Tourism Association publishes an annual guide to the area, including details of annually inspected and approved visitor accommodation. This information is also available on the KTA website. [1]

Many visitors to Keswick come for the town's annual film festival that in 2006 attracted almost 3,000 paying customers.^{[citation needed]} Keswick is also host to an annual beer festival which takes place on Keswick Rugby Club field and an annual Jazz Festival. In May 2007 Keswick will host a Mountain Festival.[2] It is administered by Keswick Town Council and Allerdale Borough Council. Though previous to 1974 the town had been an urban district in its own right and was entirely surrounded by the Cockermouth Rural District.

[edit] Convention

Keswick is the venue for an annual Christian Convention (called the Keswick Convention) that has been running since 1875 and now covers three weeks towards the end of summer.

In the Christian sphere Keswick is also the home to Castlerigg Manor, a leading Catholic residential youth centre. The centre is in the Manor house from which much of the local land was owned in the 19th century.

[edit] Places of interest

The town is home to the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum, a motor vehicle museum featuring celebrity cars from television and film, and Keswick Museum and Art Gallery; a Victorian museum which features the famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw.

[edit] Transport

The town used to be linked to Cockermouth and Penrith via the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway which closed in 1972. There is a project to reopen the railway [3].

[edit] Notable residents

Samuel Taylor Coleridge settled here with his family in 1800 and visited/collaborated with William Wordsworth in nearby Grasmere by frequently walking back and forth between the towns.

Keswick was the first place in Great Britain where police used riot gear. The equipment was on trial in Manchester when there was a disturbance on the council estate in Keswick, in which a police car was turned over. Help was summoned, and the Greater Manchester Police arrived in full riot gear, thus giving Keswick this footnote in police history.^{[citation needed]}