105-762: Greta Hall is a house in Keswick in the Lake District of England. It is best known as the home of the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey . The official address of Greta Hall is Main Street, Keswick, but it is located some 150 metres to the north east of the road on higher ground. The house is described by Historic England : The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge lived at Greta Hall with his family from 24 July 1800 until 1803 and regularly visited William Wordsworth in Grasmere . Coleridge's daughter Sara
210-483: A Saxon name; he proposed instead that the word is of Danish or Norse origin, and means "Kell's place at the bend of the river". Among the later scholars supporting the "cheese farm" toponymy are Eilert Ekwall (1960) and A. D. Mills (2011) (both Oxford University Press ), and Diana Whaley (2006), for the English Place-Name Society . Evidence of prehistoric occupation in the area includes
315-574: A Local Government District in 1853 and an urban district with three wards in 1894, reflecting its growth in the latter part of the 19th century. The new urban district's northern boundary was extended from the Greta to the railway, taking in Great Crosthwaite and part of Underskiddaw in 1899. In 1974 the urban district was abolished and then the town was administered by Allerdale Borough Council. The electoral ward of Keswick stretched beyond
420-714: A continuous 700-year existence. The town was an important mining area , and from the 18th century has been known as a holiday centre; tourism has been its principal industry for more than 150 years. Its features include the Moot Hall ; a modern theatre, the Theatre by the Lake ; one of Britain's oldest surviving cinemas, the Alhambra; and the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery in the town's largest open space, Fitz Park . Among
525-413: A flush-panelled central double door with Gothic top panels and Venetian windows. A carved oak fireplace inside is dated to 1684. The Moot Hall is a prominent Grade II* listed building situated at the southern end of Main Street. It was built in 1571 and rebuilt in 1695, and the current building dates to 1813. It is built of lime-washed stone and slate walling, and has a square tower on the north end with
630-606: A hermit on an island in Derwentwater, now named after him. Kentigern, who lived and preached in the area before moving to Wales, is traditionally held to have founded Crosthwaite Church , which was the parish church of Keswick until the 19th century. Keswick's recorded history starts in the Middle Ages . The area was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria in the 7th century, but Northumbria
735-407: A market centre, though at first the town remained only modestly prosperous: in the 1530s John Leland wrote of it as "a lytle poore market town". By the second half of the century, copper mining had made Keswick richer: in 1586 William Camden wrote of "these copper works not only being sufficient for all England, but great quantities of the copper exported every year" with, at the centre, "Keswicke,
840-530: A minimum age of ten for boys employed in underground work. However, the employment of women did not end abruptly in 1842; with the connivance of some employers, women dressed as men continued to work underground for several years. Penalties for employing women were small and inspectors were few and some women were so desperate for work they willingly worked illegally for less pay. Eventually, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65), another act of
945-575: A peak of 1,191,000 in 1920 to 695,000 in 1956, 247,000 in 1976, 44,000 in 1993, 2,000 in 2015, and to 360 in 2022. Almost all onshore coal resources in the UK occur in rocks of the Carboniferous period, some of which extend under the North Sea. Bituminous coal is present in most of Britain's coalfields and is 86% to 88% carbon. In Northern Ireland , there are extensive deposits of lignite which
1050-560: A population of 2,777 people. The population grew at a faster rate towards the late 19th century and by 1901 it stood at 4,451 people. There has been little fluctuation in population since, and in the 1991 census the town had a population of 4,836. In the 2001 census, 4,984 people were recorded, and 4,821 in 2011. At the 2021 census, 54.3% of the population identified as Christian, 37.8% as non-religious, 0.4% as Buddhist, 0.3% as Muslim, 0.2% as Hindu, and 0.3% as some other faith. The remaining 6.7 per cent did not specify their religion. Keswick
1155-498: A round-arched doorway and a double flight of exterior steps. At the top of the tower is what the Keswick Tourist Information Board describes as an "unusual one-handed clock". Formerly an assembly building, The Moot Hall contains a tourist information centre on the ground floor, with an art gallery on the floor above. The prominent social thinker and art critic John Ruskin , who had links to Keswick,
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#17327728206451260-628: A single shift but nevertheless, since 1981 production fell sharply from 128 to 17.8 million tonnes in 2009. Between 1947 and 1994, some 950 mines were closed by UK governments. Clement Attlee ’s Labour government closed 101 pits between 1947 and 1951; Macmillan (Conservative) closed 246 pits between 1957 and 1963; Wilson (Labour) closed 253 in his two terms in office between 1964 and 1976; Heath (Conservative) closed 26 between 1970 and 1974; and Thatcher (Conservative) closed 115 between 1979 and 1990. In 1994, then- Prime Minister John Major privatised British Coal after announcing 55 further closures, with
1365-496: A slate roof. The church was extended in 1862, 1882 and 1889 by the parish's benefactors the Marshall family; the chancel windows, designed by Henry Holiday , installed in 1879, were taken down and reinstalled when the chancel was extended in 1889. St John's became a Grade II* listed building in 1951. Keswick's former parish church, St Kentigern's , at Crosthwaite, just outside the town, is also Grade II* listed. Dated to at least
1470-404: A small market town, many years famous for the copper works as appears from a charter of king Edward IV , and at present inhabited by miners". Earlier copper mining had been small in scale, but Elizabeth I , concerned for the defence of her kingdom, required large quantities of copper for the manufacture of weapons and the strengthening of warships. There was the additional advantage for her that
1575-406: A total of 332 children. By 1833 Keswick had twelve daily schools, including a new National School at High Hill. The new parish church of Keswick, St John's, started educational work in 1840 with a Sunday school which also educated infant boys, and later girls, on weekdays. A full-time boys' school opened in 1853. For older pupils, Keswick School, the free co-educational grammar school, successor to
1680-561: A triangle sheltering the town, reaching a maximum height of 931 m (3,054 ft) on Skiddaw itself. To the west of Portinscale, to the south-west of the village of Thornthwaite , is Whinlatter Forest Park and Grisedale Pike . To the east, beyond Castlerigg stone circle, is St John's in the Vale , at the foot of the Helvellyn range , which is popular with ramblers starting from Keswick. In 2010, Electricity North West, United Utilities,
1785-490: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to the history of England is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Keswick, Cumbria Keswick ( / ˈ k ɛ z ɪ k / KEZ -ik ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria , England. Historically , until 1974, it was part of the county of Cumberland . It lies within
1890-427: Is commemorated by a memorial at Friars' Crag . Erected in 1900 on Rawnsley's initiative, it is a Grade II listed structure. Until 1838, Keswick had no Anglican church within the town boundaries and was part of the widespread parish of Crosthwaite. The present parish church , St John's, was designed by Anthony Salvin and consecrated in 1838. It is geometrical in style, with pink castle-head ashlar sandstone and
1995-460: Is less energy-dense based on oxidation (combustion) at ordinary combustion temperatures. According to Euracoal , the UK has 3.56 billion tonnes of identified hard coal resources with estimated total remaining coal resources possibly being as large as 187 billion tonnes. In 2020, the proposed Whitehaven deep coal mine gained planning permission but no works have begun, with legal challenges ongoing and no licence in place for seabed mining from
2100-647: Is no mention of coal mining in the Domesday Book of 1086 although lead and iron mines are recorded. In the 13th century there are records of coal digging in Durham and Northumberland , Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Staffordshire , Lancashire , the Forest of Dean , Prestongrange in Lothian and North and South Wales . At this time coal was referred to as sea cole , a reference to coal washed ashore on
2205-536: Is offered to visitors at reasonable prices. Keswick is the best centre from which to visit Lakeland. During the Second World War, students from St Katharine's College, Liverpool , and Roedean School , Sussex, were evacuated to Keswick when their own buildings were requisitioned for use as a hospital and a navy base respectively. Students were also brought to the safety of Keswick from Central Newcastle High School , Hunmanby Hall School, Yorkshire , and
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#17327728206452310-556: Is one of the oldest continuously functioning cinemas in the country; it is equipped with digital technology and satellite receiving equipment to allow the live screening of plays, operas and ballet from the National Theatre , Royal Opera House and other venues. The town is the site of the Derwent Pencil Museum . One of the exhibits is what is claimed to be the world's largest coloured pencil. Fitz Park, on
2415-683: Is the home of the Theatre by the Lake, opened in 1999. The theatre serves a dual purpose as the permanent home of a professional repertory company and a venue for visiting performers and festivals. It replaced the Century Theatre or "Blue Box", which had spent 25 years in semi-retirement on a permanent lakeside site in Keswick, after a career of similar length as a mobile theatre. The Alhambra cinema in St John Street, opened in 1913,
2520-563: The Castlerigg stone circle on the eastern fringe of the town, which has been dated to c. 3200 BC . Neolithic -era stone tools were unearthed inside the circle and in the centre of Keswick during the 19th century. The antiquary W. G. Collingwood , commenting in 1925 about finds in the area, wrote that they showed "Stone Age man was fairly at home in the Lake District". There is little evidence of sustained settlement in
2625-621: The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6 . c. 59) and were run by the new National Coal Board . In March 1987 the legal name of the NCB was changed to the British Coal Corporation. The name "British Coal" had been used by the NCB since 28 April 1986. UK coal production peaked in 1913 at 287 million tonnes. Until the late 1960s, coal was the main source of energy produced in
2730-400: The Derwent Pencil Museum remaining at the old site. At the beginning of the 21st century, more than 60 per cent of the population were employed in hotels, restaurants and distribution. A survey of retail premises in 2000 found that more than ten per cent were outdoor clothes shops, a similar proportion were cafés or restaurants, and more than eight per cent were gift shops. The age profile of
2835-722: The East and West Midlands and Kent . Stone and Bronze Age flint axes have been discovered embedded in coal, showing that it was mined in Britain before the Roman invasion. Early miners first extracted coal already exposed on the surface and then followed the seams underground. It is probable that the Romans used outcropping coal when working iron or burning lime for building purposes. Evidence to support these theories comes mostly from ash discovered at excavations of Roman sites. There
2940-553: The Emperor of Brazil , and his wife Empress Teresa Cristina arrived in Keswick from Scotland anxious to see the memorials of Robert Southey, of whose "History of Brazil" he is said to have spoken with gratification. Entering Crosthwaite Church, he inspected the monument to the poet, reading the inscription on it by Wordsworth, and after visiting the Laureate's grave in the churchyard, went over to Greta Hall. Between 1872 and 1887 it
3045-465: The Irish Sea until 2049. On 21 April 2017, Britain went a full day without using coal power to generate electricity for the first time. In May 2019, Britain went a full week without coal power. In 2019, German utilities firm RWE announced that it planned to close all its UK coal power plants by 2020, leaving only four plants operating by March 2020; in 2018, eight were still in operation when
3150-648: The Jacobite rising of 1715 . In 1735 the Crown granted the income from the estates to support the Greenwich Hospital , London. Land to the south and west were part of Greenwich Hospital's forestry and farming estates until the 19th century. In 1925 the then owner, Sir John Randles, gave the National Trust 90 acres (36 ha) of land in this estate, including the foreshore woodland. Keswick became
3255-484: The Lake District National Park , just north of Derwentwater and four miles (six kilometres) from Bassenthwaite Lake . The parish had a population of 5,243 at the 2011 census . There is evidence of prehistoric occupation of the area, but the first recorded mention of the town dates from the 13th century, when Edward I of England granted a charter for Keswick's market, which has maintained
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3360-576: The Marine Management Organisation . The United Kingdom's onshore coal resources occur in Carboniferous rocks, some of which extend under the North Sea. The carbon content of the bituminous coal present in most of the coalfields is 86% to 88%. Britain's coalfields are associated with Northumberland and Durham , North and South Wales , Yorkshire , the Scottish Central Belt , Lancashire , Cumbria ,
3465-688: The National Union of Mineworkers became increasingly militant, and was successful in gaining increased wages in their strikes in 1972 and 1974 . Closures were less common in the 1970s, and new investments were made in sites such as the Selby Coalfield . In early 1984, the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher announced plans to close 20 coal pits which led to the year-long miners' strike which ended in March 1985. The strike
3570-520: The River Derwent , are Celtic, some closely related to Welsh equivalents. Several Christian saints preached the Gospel in the north of England in the late 6th and early 7th centuries AD ; in Keswick and the surrounding area the most important figures were St Herbert of Derwentwater and his contemporary St Kentigern . The former, the pupil and friend of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne , lived as
3675-468: The Watt steam engine . To produce firewood in the 1860s equivalent in energy terms to domestic consumption of coal would have required 25 million acres (100,000 km ) of land per year, nearly the entire farmland area of England (26 million acres (105,000 km )). A key development was the invention at Coalbrookdale in the early 18th century of coke which could be used to make pig iron in
3780-474: The blast furnace . The development of the steam locomotive by Trevithick early in the 19th century gave added impetus, and coal consumption grew rapidly as the railway network expanded through the Victorian period. Coal was widely used for domestic heating owing to its low cost and widespread availability. The manufacture of coke also provided coal gas , which could be used for heating and lighting. Most of
3885-524: The 14th century, it is built mainly in the Tudor-Gothic style and was expanded in 1523 and later restored in 1844 by George Gilbert Scott . The Quakers had an early meeting house in the town, replaced in 1715 by one at Underskiddaw. Protestant dissenters met at a private house from 1705 or before, moving to a chapel in Lake Road in the latter part of the 18th century. A Congregational chapel
3990-423: The 170-mile (270-kilometre) return journey from Preston to Keswick. In addition to its growing importance as a tourist centre, Keswick developed a reputation for its manufacture of pencils during the 19th century. It had begun on a modest scale in about 1792, as a cottage industry , using graphite mined locally. This developed on more industrial lines in factories purpose-built by several companies. Pencil making
4095-414: The 1760s, but they were expensive. The ten-hour journey from Whitehaven to Penrith via Keswick cost 12 shillings (numerically equivalent to 60p), at a time when country labourers typically earned 10 shillings a week or less, and the annual income of even the most prosperous tenant farmers was rarely more than £200. Nonetheless, by the 19th century the number of tourists visiting Keswick during each season
4200-402: The 75- to 84-year-old bracket, which contains 9.6 per cent of Keswick's population compared with a national average of 5.5. Figures from the same census show that Keswick has fewer than average "large employers and higher managerial occupations" and more small employers and self-employed people. Long-term unemployment is considerably below the average for England. In medieval times the township
4305-558: The Crosthwaite Free Grammar School, opened at a site diagonally opposite Greta Bridge in 1898. In 1951 a new secondary modern school was built at Lairthwaite in Underskiddaw. Junior education is provided by St Herbert's School, which had a roll of 263 in 2013. At senior level, Keswick and Lairthwaite schools merged in 1980 as a single comprehensive secondary school, with the name Keswick School. It
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4410-403: The Crown was entitled to royalties on metals extracted from English land. The experts in copper mining were German, and Elizabeth secured the services of Daniel Hechstetter of Augsburg , to whom she granted a licence to "search, dig, try, roast and melt all manner of mines and ores of gold, silver, copper and quicksilver " in the Keswick area and elsewhere. As well as copper, a new substance
4515-657: The Cumbrian League and the Cumbria Rugby Union Raging Bull Competition. The rugby club is involved in the organisation of the Keswick Half Marathon, usually held in the first week of May. Keswick Tennis Club has grass courts in upper Fitz Park, and also runs hard courts on Keswick's Community Sports Area in the lower park area. Keswick Cricket Club was established in the 1880s. Its principal team competes in
4620-455: The Dog and Gun public house in Lake Road are both Grade II listed 18th-century buildings. The following are the listed buildings in Keswick. The listings are graded: The Crosthwaite Free Grammar School, adjoining Crosthwaite churchyard, was an ancient institution, its date of foundation uncertain. In 1819 the parish of Crosthwaite had five or six schools in the town and the outlying areas, with
4725-489: The Keswick population is significantly higher than the English average. In 2011 children under 10 made up 7.6 per cent of the town's population, compared with 11.9 per cent for England as a whole. Between ages 10 and 20 the comparable figures are 10.2 and 12.1; and from ages 20 to 44, 25.9 as against 34.3. The percentage of Keswick's population aged 45 and upwards is above the national average, the largest difference being within
4830-586: The Lake District National Park Authority and the conservation charity Friends of the Lake District invested £100,000 to remove power lines and replace them with underground cables, to improve the quality of scenery in the vicinity. Climatically, Keswick is in the North West sector of the UK, which is characterised by cool summers, mild winters, and high monthly rainfalls throughout the year. Keswick's wettest months fall at
4935-409: The Lake District", and continued: Keswick's chief industry is to promote the contentment and happiness of its visitors. Its pleasant position provides at the outset a tonic atmosphere ... it is set in the most delightful part of a delightful district, described by Wordsworth as "the loveliest spot that ever man has found". There are numerous places of interest and fine shops, and good accommodation
5040-477: The Liverpool Orphanage. The creation of the Lake District National Park in 1951, with strict control over new development, prevented any expansion of the town beyond its pre-war borders. Keswick's population has remained stable at a little below 5,000 residents. The town's reliance on tourism increased in 2006 when Cumberland Pencils moved production from Keswick to Lillyhall, Workington , only
5145-613: The National Trust continued to acquire land locally. In the First World War Keswick lost many of its young men: the war memorial near Fitz Park commemorates 117 names, from a population at the time of less than 4,500. By the 1930s Keswick was firmly established as the main centre of tourism in Cumberland and Westmorland. An article in The Manchester Guardian in 1934 called it "the capital of
5250-716: The North Lancashire and Cumbria Cricket League, Premier Division. The second team plays in the Eden Valley Cricket League, 3rd Division, and the club also has junior under-11, under-13, and under-15 teams and a women's cricket team. Keswick Fitz Park Bowls Club was founded in 1882. Coal mining in the United Kingdom Coal mining in the United Kingdom dates back to Roman times and occurred in many different parts of
5355-544: The Parliament of the United Kingdom, was passed protecting women – and men – from discrimination on the grounds of sex or marital status, including regarding employment as miners. Also, children continued working underground at some pits after 1845. At Coppull Colliery's Burgh Pit, three females died after an explosion in November 1846; one was eleven years old. The Mines (Prohibition of Child Labour Underground) Act 1900
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#17327728206455460-493: The UK, peaking at 228 million tonnes in 1952. Ninety-five per cent of this came from roughly 1,334 deep-mines that were operational at the time, with the rest from around 92 surface mines. In the 1950s and 1960s, around a hundred North East coal mines were closed. In March 1968, the last pit in the Black Country closed and pit closures were a regular occurrence in many other areas. Beginning with wildcat action in 1969,
5565-767: The UK, two chapters in the book by Norma Gregory Jamaicans in Nottingham: Narratives and Reflections , are on Black coal miners. The scarcity of resources on these workers led Gregory to curate an exhibition called The Digging Deep Project Exhibition at the National Coal Mining Museum, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and to found the Black Miners Museum. Until 1 January 1947 the mines were owned by various individuals and companies. On that date most were nationalised by
5670-777: The Westmorland League Division One, and it also has a reserve team which plays in Westmorland League Division Two, a female team which plays in the Cumbria League, juniors who compete in the under-16, under-14, under-12 and under-10 categories in the Penrith Junior Football League; there is a veteran team, which competes in the Cumbria League. Keswick Rugby Union Football Club, established in 1879, plays at Davidson Park, and has teams that play in
5775-587: The alterations made during the Georgian period still evident. The King's Arms Hotel, in the main market square, dates from the early 19th century; it is built from stuccoed stone, with Victorian shop windows on the ground floor. The Queen's Hotel in Main Street, a pebbledashed stone building dating from the late 18th century, was renamed "The Inn on the Square" in 2015. The Bank Tavern in Main Street and
5880-584: The area during the Bronze Age , but from excavations of hill forts it is clear that there was some Iron Age occupation, circa 500 BC, although scholars are not agreed about how permanent it was. In Roman Britain Cumbria was the territory of the Carvetii . As the site of the western part of Hadrian's Wall , it was of strategic importance. The north of the county is rich in archaeological evidence from
5985-483: The area. The poet Thomas Gray published an account of a five-day stay in Keswick in 1769, in which he described the view of the town as "the vale of Elysium in all its verdure", and was lyrical about the beauties of the fells and the lake. His journal was widely read, and was, in Bott's phrase, "an effective public relations job for Keswick". Painters such as Thomas Smith of Derby and William Bellers also contributed to
6090-525: The bank of the River Greta, is home to the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery , a Victorian museum which features the Musical Stones of Skiddaw , Southey manuscripts, and a collection of sculptures and paintings of regional and wider importance, including works by Epstein , John Opie , Richard Westall and others. After extensive restoration and enlargement the museum reopened in 2014. In 2001
6195-399: The boom of the mid-16th century had finished, the town's economy did not slide into ruin, and the population remained generally constant at a little under 1,000. The historian George Bott regards John Dalton (1709–63) and John Brown (1715–66) as the pioneers of tourism in the Lake District. Both wrote works praising the majesty of the scenery, and their enthusiasm prompted others to visit
6300-471: The borders of which met at Keswick. In 1181 Jocelyn of Furness wrote of a new church at Crosthwaite , Keswick, founded by Alice de Romilly, the Lady of Allerdale, a direct descendant of William II's original barons. In 1189, Richard I granted the rectory of Crosthwaite to the Cistercian order of Fountains Abbey . During the 13th century, agricultural land around the town was acquired by Fountains and Furness Abbeys. The latter, already prosperous from
6405-417: The confines of the parish boundary and at the 2011 Census had a total population of 5,243. Today, Keswick is administered by Keswick Town Council and Cumberland Council . Since 2024 Keswick has been in the Penrith and Solway parliamentary constituency, having previously been part of Copeland , and before that Workington and, earlier, Penrith and The Border . Keswick lies in north-western England, in
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#17327728206456510-475: The country. Britain's coalfields are associated with Northumberland and Durham , North and South Wales , Yorkshire , the Scottish Central Belt , Lancashire , Cumbria , the East and West Midlands and Kent . After 1972, coal mining quickly collapsed and had practically disappeared by the 21st century. The consumption of coal—mostly for electricity—fell from 157 million tonnes in 1970 to just 587,000 tonnes in 2023. Employment in coal mines fell from
6615-417: The cricket ground in Fitz Park was named the most beautiful in England by Wisden Cricket Monthly . Greta Hall (see Lake Poets, below), is a Grade I listed building . The home of Coleridge in 1800–04 and Southey from 1803 until 1843, it later became part of Keswick School and is now in private ownership, partly divided into holiday flats. The three-storey house dates to the late 18th century and features
6720-410: The end of the year, the peak average of 189.3 mm (7.45 in) falling in October. Rain, sunshine and temperature figures are shown below. The registers of Crosthwaite Church stated that there were 238 interments in 1623, believed to have been something between a twelfth and a tenth of the whole population of the parish at that time. In the 1640s there was a sharp fall in population, brought on by
6825-410: The equivalent of writing about Stratford-upon-Avon without mentioning Shakespeare, so great was Rawnsley's impact on the town. He and his wife set up classes to teach metalwork and wood carving; these grew into the Keswick School of Industrial Art , which trained local craftsmen and women from 1894 until it closed in 1986. He revived the ancient May Day festival in the town, and was a leading figure in
6930-423: The establishment of Keswick School, Blencathra Sanatorium and the County Farm School. As co-founder of the National Trust , Rawnsley contributed to Keswick's continued growth as a tourist centre, with the acquisition by the Trust of many acres of popular scenic land around Derwentwater, beginning with Brandelhow Wood in 1902. Keswick's history throughout the 20th century was one of increasing reliance on tourism,
7035-491: The extraction of iron ore. Grant to Thomas de Derwentewatere, and his heirs, of a weekly market on Saturday at Kesewik in Derewentfelles, co. Cumberland, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of St. Mary Magdalene, and the two days following. Grant by Edward I , 18 July 1276 Keswick was granted a charter for a market in 1276 by Edward I . This market has an uninterrupted history lasting for more than 700 years. The pattern of buildings around
7140-427: The fertile Eden Valley , well to the north of Keswick. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries , between 1536 and 1541, Furness and Fountains Abbeys were supplanted by new secular landlords for the farmers of Keswick and its neighbourhood. The buying and selling of sheep and wool were no longer centred on the great Abbeys, being handled locally by the new landowners and tenants. This enhanced Keswick's importance as
7245-525: The heart of the northern Lake District. The town is 31 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (51 kilometres) southwest of Carlisle, 22 mi (35 km) northwest of Windermere and 14 + 1 ⁄ 4 mi (23 km) southeast of Cockermouth. Derwentwater , the lake southwest of the town, measures approximately 3 mi × 1 mi (5 km × 1.5 km) and is some 72 ft (22 m) deep. It contains several islands, including Derwent Isle, Lord's Island, Rampsholme Island and St Herbert's Island,
7350-472: The influx of visitors; engravings of their paintings of Cumberland scenery sold in large numbers, further enhancing the fame of the area. In 1800 the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, "It is no small advantage that for two-thirds of the year we are in complete retirement – the other third is alive & swarms with Tourists of all shapes & sizes." Coleridge had moved to Keswick in that year, and together with his fellow Lake Poets (see below )
7455-406: The largest. Derwent Isle is the only island on the lake that is inhabited; it is run by the National Trust and open to visitors five days a year. The land between Keswick and the lake consists mainly of fields and areas of woodland, including Isthmus Wood, Cockshot Wood, Castlehead Wood and Horseclose and Great Wood, further to the south. The River Derwent flows from Derwentwater to Bassenthwaite ,
7560-538: The late 19th century and into the 20th, Keswick was the focus of several important initiatives by the growing conservation movement, often led by Hardwicke Rawnsley , vicar of the nearby Crosthwaite parish and co-founder of the National Trust , which has built up extensive holdings in the area. The town is first recorded in Edward I's charter of the 13th century, as "Kesewik". Scholars have generally considered
7665-479: The long run. In 2020, the Woodhouse Colliery proposal gained planning permission but has outstanding legal challenges as of 2024 and as yet to begin any works. The plan was criticised by some MPs and environmentalists due to the incompatibility of coal mining with government commitments to reduce carbon emissions. The mine is proposed by West Cumbria Mining and plans to extract coking coal from beneath
7770-452: The majority of operations transferred to the new company UK Coal . By this time British Coal had closed all but the most economical of coal pits. The pit closures reflected coal consumption slumping to the lowest rate in more than a century, further declining towards the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s. This coincided with initiatives for cleaner energy generation as power stations switched to gas and biomass. A total of 100 million tons
7875-479: The market square remained broadly the same from this period until at least the late 18th century, with houses – originally timber-framed – fronting the square, and sturdily enclosed gardens or yards at the back. According to local tradition these stout walls and the narrow entrances to the yards were for defence against marauding Scots . In the event it appears that the town escaped such attacks, Scottish raiders finding richer and more accessible targets at Carlisle and
7980-773: The most economical coal production in Europe, according to UK Coal, with a level of productivity of 3,200 tonnes per man year as of 2012, at which point there were 13 UK Coal deep mines. The three deep-pit mines were Hatfield and Kellingley Collieries in Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire . There were 26 opencast sites in 2014, mainly in Scotland. Around that time, most coal was used for electricity generation and steel-making. Its use for heating homes had already declined because of pollution concerns. The commodity
8085-696: The most northerly of the major Cumbrian lakes. The Derwent and its tributary the Greta , which flows through Keswick, meet to the east of Portinscale. The source of the Greta is near Threlkeld , at the confluence of the River Glenderamackin and St John's Beck . Keswick is in the lee of the Skiddaw group, the oldest group of rocks in the Lake District. These fells were formed during the Ordovician period, 488 to 443 million years ago; they form
8190-523: The name to be from the Old English , meaning "farm where cheese is made", the word deriving from "cēse" (cheese) with a Scandinavian initial "k" and "wīc" (special place or dwelling), although not all academics agree. George Flom of the University of Illinois (1919) rejected that derivation on the grounds that a town in the heart of Viking-settled areas , as Keswick was, would not have been given
8295-416: The nearby village of Braithwaite . There are no other religious buildings in Keswick; Muslim worship was accommodated on Fridays in a room at the local council building in Main Street. This has since discontinued. Keswick's old inns and their successors include many listed buildings, mainly Grade II in designation. The George Hotel, stated to be the oldest inn in the town, dates to the 16th century, with
8400-483: The new Bessemer process of steelmaking brought a great demand for the rich iron ore from west Cumberland and the coking coal from Durham on the east side of the country. The CKP was built to enable ore and coal to be brought together at steel foundries in both counties. The line opened for goods traffic in 1864, and the following year it began to carry passengers. Fares varied, but holidaymakers could buy excursion tickets at discounted prices, such as six shillings for
8505-437: The north east coast of England from either the cliffs or undersea outcrops. As the supply of coal on the surface became used up, settlers followed the seam inland by digging up the shore. Generally the seam continued underground, encouraging the settlers to dig to find coal, the precursor to modern operations. The early mines would have been drift mines or adits where coal seams outcropped or by shallow bell pits where coal
8610-485: The pencil industry being the second largest source of employment. The Cumberland Pencil Company, formed at the turn of the century, occupied a large factory near the River Greta on the road leading out of Keswick towards Cockermouth. The conservation movement continued to develop; Rawnsley led successful campaigns to save the medieval Greta and Portinscale bridges from replacement with ferro-concrete structures; and
8715-414: The period, but nothing is known that suggests any Roman habitation in the Keswick area, other than finds that point to the existence of one or more Roman highways passing the vicinity of the present-day town. Such nearby settlements as can be traced from the era of the Romans and the years after their departure seem to have been predominantly Celtic . Many local place names from the period, including that of
8820-403: The plague epidemic which affected Keswick, Carlisle, Cockermouth and Crosthwaite and other areas in 1645–47. In the 1801 census , the township of Keswick, including the town and surrounding hamlets, had a reported population of 1,350 people. The population grew at a steady rate, increasing to 1,683 in 1811, 1,901 in 1821, 2,159 in 1831, 2,442 in 1841, and 2,618 in 1851. In 1871 the township had
8925-434: The second half of the 18th century, it was used to make pencils, for which Keswick became famous. The copper mines prospered for about seventy years, but by the early 17th century the industry was in decline. Demand for copper fell and the cost of extracting it was high. Graphite mining continued, and quarrying for slate began to grow in importance. Other small-scale industries grew up, such as tannery and weaving. Although
9030-503: The town's annual events is the Keswick Convention , an Evangelical gathering attracting visitors from many countries. Keswick became widely known for its association with the poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey . Together with their fellow Lake Poet William Wordsworth , based at Grasmere, 12 miles (19 kilometres) away, they made the scenic beauty of the area widely known to readers in Britain and beyond. In
9135-642: The ventilation drift after violent thunderstorms causing the death of 26 children; 11 girls aged from 8 to 16 and 15 boys between 9 and 12 years of age. The disaster came to the attention of Queen Victoria who ordered an inquiry. This led to the Mines and Collieries Act 1842 ( 5 & 6 Vict. c. 99), commonly known as the Mines Act 1842, an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forbade women and girls of any age to work underground and introduced
9240-520: The wool trade, wished to expand its sheep farming, and in 1208 bought large tracts of land from Alice de Romilly. She also negotiated with Fountains Abbey, to which she sold Derwent Island in Derwentwater, land at Watendlath , the mill at Crosthwaite and other land in Borrowdale . Keswick was at the hub of the monastic farms in the area, and Fountains based a steward in the town, where tenants paid their rents. Furness also enjoyed profitable rights to
9345-573: The workers were children and men. At the beginning of the 19th century methods of coal extraction were primitive and the workforce – men, women, and children – laboured in dangerous conditions. By 1841 about 216,000 people were employed in the mines. Women and children worked underground for 11 or 12 hours a day for smaller wages than men. The public became aware of conditions in the country's collieries in 1838 after an accident at Huskar Colliery in Silkstone , near Barnsley . A stream overflowed into
9450-408: Was a girls’ school. In 1909 it was bought by Canon Rawnsley and rented to the headmaster of Keswick School as a girls’ boarding house. In 1921 it was bought by the governors of the school and remained a girls’ boarding house until 1994. 54°36′14″N 3°08′20″W / 54.6039°N 3.1390°W / 54.6039; -3.1390 This article about a Cumbria building or structure
9555-517: Was also used for fertilisers , chemicals, plastics , medicines and road surfaces. Hatfield Colliery closed in June 2015, as did Thoresby, and in December 2015, Kellingley, bringing to an end deep coal mining in the UK. The occasion was marked by a rally and march attended by thousands of people. The closure of coal mines left the affected communities economically deprived, unable to recover even in
9660-569: Was an act of Parliament that prevented boys under the age of thirteen from working, or being (for the purposes of employment) in an underground mine. (The act was repealed in full by the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 ( 2 & 3 Eliz. 2 . c. 70); by such time the act was out of date and was no longer necessary due to the stronger provisions in the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act 1920 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 5 . c. 65). Although it has been surmised that there were no Black miners in
9765-690: Was born at Greta Hall in 1802. Robert Southey and his wife came to stay with the Coleridges in 1803, and took over the tenancy of Greta Hall when Coleridge left in 1804. Southey lived there until his death in 1843. Greta Hall was visited by a number of the Lake Poets and other literary figures including William Wordsworth , Dorothy Wordsworth , William Hazlitt , Lord Byron , John Keats , Percy Bysshe Shelley , Sir Walter Scott , Sir George Beaumont , Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb 1802, Thomas De Quincey and John Ruskin . On July 5, 1877 Pedro II ,
9870-605: Was built in 1858–59. The first Wesleyan chapel was built in 1814 in a small yard off Main Street at a cost of £331 10s; the present Methodist church is in Southey Street. Since 1928 Roman Catholics in Keswick have been served by Our Lady of the Lakes and St Charles in High Hill. A new Quaker meeting house opened in the town in 1994. An Eastern Orthodox church was inaugurated in 2007, holding services in Keswick and
9975-585: Was close to the surface. Shafts lined with tree trunks and branches have been found in Lancashire in workings dating from the early 17th century and by 1750 brick lined shafts to 150-foot (45 m) depth were common. Coal production increased dramatically in the 19th century as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, as a fuel for steam engines such as the Newcomen engine , and later,
10080-603: Was destroyed by the Vikings in the late 9th century. In the early 10th century the British Kingdom of Strathclyde seized the area, and it remained part of Strathclyde until about 1050, when Siward, Earl of Northumbria , conquered Cumbria. In 1092 William II of England , son of William the Conqueror , marched north and established the great baronies of Allerdale-below-Derwent, Allerdale-above-Derwent, and Greystoke,
10185-549: Was estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000. Some of the Keswick inns that catered for affluent visitors remain as hotels, including the Queen's, where Gray stayed. The construction of the railways in the mid-19th century made the Lake District, and Keswick in particular, more accessible to visitors of modest means. The original impetus for building the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway (CKP) line came from heavy industry:
10290-413: Was found, extracted and exploited: this was variously called wad, black lead, plumbago or black cauke, and is now known as graphite . Many uses were quickly discovered for the mineral: it reduced friction in machinery, made a heat-resistant glaze for crucibles, and when used to line moulds for cannonballs, resulted in rounder, smoother balls that could be fired further by English naval cannon . Later, from
10395-569: Was founded in 1896, and in 2019 continues to be published every Friday. In an article in The Observer in 1978, Christopher Brasher wrote that as long as the Reminder flourishes, "there will be one corner of these islands that is forever England." In 1883 Hardwicke Rawnsley was appointed vicar of Crosthwaite. In a study of Lake District towns in 1974, H. A. L. Rice commented that to write about Keswick without mentioning Rawnsley would be
10500-543: Was included in The Daily Telegraph ' s list of the top thirty comprehensives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2014. The Local Education Authority for Keswick is Cumbria . The Mary Hewetson Cottage Hospital, founded in 1892, has fifteen beds and a minor injuries unit. It underwent a major rebuilding and upgrade in 2013. Keswick is home to Keswick Football Club. The principal team plays in
10605-470: Was possibly the strongest influence on the public esteem of Keswick and the Lake District. During the 18th century and into the 19th, turnpike trusts were established and major roads in Cumberland were greatly improved. With the Lake District now accessible by coach the area attracted well-off visitors, particularly at times of war in mainland Europe, which made the aristocratic Grand Tour impossible there. Regular public coach services were established in
10710-492: Was produced in 1986, but by 1995 the amount was around 50 million tons. In 2001, production was exceeded by imports for the first time. In 2014, coal imported was three times more than the coal mined in Britain. In 2009, companies were licensed to extract 125 million tonnes of coal in operating underground mines and 42 million tonnes at opencast locations. Coal mining employed 4,000 workers at 30 locations in 2013, extracting 13 million tonnes of coal. The UK Coal mines achieved
10815-440: Was the town's most important manufacturing industry by the mid-19th century, textiles and leather goods having declined. The Moot Hall was rebuilt in 1813, and the lower floor was used as a market house on Saturdays. Coal gas was supplied by a gas works from 1846; the Keswick library opened in 1849; a water works began operation in 1856; and Keswick police station opened in 1857. The local weekly newspaper, The Keswick Reminder
10920-614: Was unsuccessful in stopping the closures and led to an end to the closed shop in British Coal , as the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers was formed by miners who objected to the NUM's handling of the strike. Numerous pit closures followed, and in August 1989 coal mining ended in the Kent coalfield. In 1986, Kellingley colliery near Pontefract achieved a record 404,000 tonnes in
11025-540: Was within the manor of Castlerigg and Derwentwater. The earliest surviving official record of the town is the market charter of 1276 granted to the lord of the manor, Thomas de Derwentwater. The manor was granted by Alice de Romilly to Adam de Derwentwater before 1216, and subsequently passed to the Radclyffe family through marriage. The Derwentwater estate was forfeit to the Crown after the execution of James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater in 1716 for his involvement in
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