History of Keswick

A Brief History of Keswick

Moot Hall in the Market Square
Photograph by Mayson, around 1900

The ancient Cumberland town of Keswick ('Cese-wic' - the cheese town) has seen many changes over the years. There has been a market in the town since 1276, livestock fairs have always been an annual event, and cheese fairs used to be held regularly in the late autumn, until the early 1900's. Medieval Keswick had been planned as a ribbon development of burgage plots along either side of the market place. Burgage was property held on a yearly rent, but by the 19th century these plots had been filled in as Yards supporting small workshops and cottage industries based on wool and leather. The development of the turnpike road between Kendall and Cockermouth through the centre of Keswick strengthened the town's role as an important farming and market centre for the North Lakes area. In 1828 the town was recorded as 'one long street, the houses of which are built of stone'.

Industrially, Keswick had been at the centre of the considerable mining activities that took place in the Lake District during and after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The presence of wad (graphite) in a mine in Borrowdale, the availability of water for motive power, and wood from trees, resulted in the development of pencil production in the town. This industry is still there today, as the Cumberland Rexel Pencil Factory. The Keswick Gaslight Company was established in 1846, and in 1865 the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway linked the town to the national railway network.

Following the opening of the railway Keswick increasingly became a fashionable centre for vistors in search of lake and mountain scenery. There has since been a steady increase in tourism in the town, and a steady decline in market and manufacturing function. The population of the town is now 5,000 which is little more than the 4,500 inhabitants of 1901. The slow, but steady, increase in visitor numbers over the years has caused evolution within the town rather than the drastic changes seen in many other tourist resorts. Thus the basic friendly, small town feeling is still present. It remains a wonderful place to visit and a lovely place to live.

Keswick Town in 1906

Writers and Poets

Writers and poets have been attracted to Keswick's relative isolation and natural beauy since the late 18th Century. William & Dorothy Wordsworth stayed in the town in 1794, Samuel Taylor Coleridge rented part of Greta Hall from 1800-1803, and his brother-in-law, Robert Southey, the poet laureat, stayed in Greta Hall for forty years. It was while living there that he wrote the famous childrens story, the 'Three Bears'. Greta Hall was, until recently, used as boarding accommodation for Keswick School. It is hoped that the Hall will be developed as a small museum and study centre for those interested in the 'Lakes Poets', as they have become known.

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD

By William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Lynwood Hotel in Keswick

Local attractions

Cumbrian events 1997

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