Kelsick is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Dundraw Dundraw is a hamlet and a civil parish near Abbeytown, in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, United Kingdom. It is in the North West of England and Cumbria County Council, based in Carlisle, is the local county council. The hamlet is approximatel ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, United Kingdom. It is located approximately southeast of

Abbeytown Abbeytown, also known as Holme Abbey, is a village and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The name Abbeytown dates to the mid-17th century (''The Towne of the Abbey'', ''Abbey Towne''; ''Abbeytown'' from mid-18th century ...

, northwest of Dundraw, and west of

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, Cumbria's

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

. Kelsick is accessed by two side-roads off the

B5302 road The B5302 is a B roads in Great Britain, B road which runs for approximately twelve-and-a-quarter miles between the towns of Silloth-on-Solway and Wigton in Cumbria, United Kingdom. From west to east, it passes through the villages of Causewayhe ...

, which runs between

Silloth Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway) is a port town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in the county of Cumberland, the town is an example of a Victorian seaside resort in the North of Engl ...

and

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies just outside the Lake District in the borough of Allerdale. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells ...

Etymology

The name Kelsick is believed to be derived from an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

word meaning "a spring" or "a well".

History

On 7 July 1942, a

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second Wor ...

aircraft from

RAF Annan Royal Air Force Annan or more simply RAF Annan is a former Royal Air Force station located about north-east of the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, which was operational during the Second World War. Station history Initially s ...

crashed near Kelsick, with the loss of one life. A second occupant of the aircraft was able to successfully bail out before the crash. A rescue party from nearby

RAF Kirkbride RAF Kirkbride, was a Second World War era airfield in the village of Kirkbride, Cumbria, England. Opened in June 1939, the base was intended to be an aircraft repair depot, as its location was deemed to be far enough away from the threat of ene ...

was assembled, but boggy ground, excess water, and fading light led to the attempt being called off. An engine from the aircraft was recovered in 1976. In 1990, a pond at Kelsick was restored by local conservationists.

Amenities

Allerdale Borough Council Allerdale is a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with borough status. Its council is based in Workington and the borough has a population of 93,492 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 96,422 at the 2011 Census. The Bor ...

provides refuse collection, street lighting, and other services to residents of Kelsick.

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which ...

provides a bus service, the number 400, which runs near to Kelsick along the B5302 road. The bus runs approximately every two hours from Monday to Saturday between Silloth and Carlisle. The nearest railway station is at

, approximately to the southeast. The nearest primary school, Holme Cultram Abbey school, is located in Abbeytown, and the nearest secondary school,

The Nelson Thomlinson School The Nelson Thomlinson School is a comprehensive secondary school located in the market town of Wigton, Cumbria, England. The school's motto is the Latin phrase ''Fide et Operis'', "Faith and Works". The position of Headteacher has been occupied ...

, is in Wigton.

Climate

Kelsick, like the rest of the

Solway Plain The Solway Plain or Solway Basin is a coastal plain located mostly in northwest Cumbria in England, extending just over the Scottish border to the low-lying area around Gretna and Annan. It lies generally north and west of Carlisle along the Sol ...

, has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Cfb), with mild summers and winters which generally avoid extremes of temperature. At nearby Abbeytown, average daytime high temperatures were in summer and in winter, with average overnight lows of in the summer months and in the winter. Rainfall is fairly consistent throughout the year, with approximately 15 days a month where measurable rainfall occurs.

References

{{reflist, 2 Hamlets in Cumbria Allerdale