Kirkoswald is a village,

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 authorit ...

, and former

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

located in the Lower Eden Valley of

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. ...

, England, formerly in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

, about from Penrith. The village, referred to colloquially as KO, had a population of 870 at the 2001 census, which rose to 901 at the 2011 Census.

Heritage

The village name means "Church of St Oswald", the parish church being dedicated to Saint Oswald, King of

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

. The body of Oswald is believed to have been taken through the village. The church lies on the southern edge of the village overlooking the River Eden, close to the bridge connecting Kirkoswald to Lazonby. St Oswald's Church is unique in having a 19th-century bell tower on top of a hill 200 yards from the church itself. Parts of the church date from the 12th century, the chancel being added in 1523, when the "College" was founded by Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre and his wife. A sacred spring lies under the nave of the church, and a well is found on the west wall.Kirkoswald Cumbria
In 1808 a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of perhaps 543 Northumbrian copper alloy stycas and a silver trefoil ornament was found amongst an uprooted tree in the parish. One of Kirkoswald's most splendid buildings is the College, its name recalling the days when St Oswald's Church was a collegiate church. Originally built in 1450 as a Pele Tower it became, after dissolution in 1547, home to the Fetherstonhaugh family, which previously lived at

Featherstone Castle Featherstone Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a large Gothic style country mansion situated on the bank of the River South Tyne about southwest of the town of Haltwhistle in Northumberland, England. Medieval origins In the 11th century th ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

Amenities

The village has one main street rising up a steep hill passing through a former market place with its two pubs – the ''Crown Inn'' and the ''Fetherston Arms''. A third pub, the ''Black Bull'', which at one time won awards for its food, overlooked the square, but this closed in the early 1990s. It also has a shop that houses a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

, a

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

and a well-attended

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. Until recently there were further shops, including a butcher and a branch of the Midland Bank. Given its market charter in the 13th century, the village held a market before it was moved to Lazonby and Kirkoswald railway station after the opening of the Settle to Carlisle Railway Line in 1876.

Governance

Kirkoswald is in the Eden district of Cumbria. Included in the parish are the nearby village of Renwick and the hamlets of

Staffield Staffield is a hamlet and former civil parish from Carlisle, now in the parish of Kirkoswald, in the Eden district, in the county of Cumbria, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 193. History The name "Staffield" means 'Isolat ...

, High Bankhill, Parkhead and Scales. From 1866 to 1934 Staffield was a separate civil parish. Renwick was also a separate parish until 1934. The parish council meets at the village hall in Kirkoswald's former market square. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

in the same name stretches north to

Ainstable Ainstable is a village and civil parish in the English county of Cumbria. The parish stretches from the banks of the River Eden to the summits of the North Pennines where it borders Northumberland and includes the villages of Croglin and N ...

, with a total population at the 2011 census of 1,471.

Notable people

* Timothy Brown (1743/1744–1820), radical, banker, and merchant, was born in Kirkoswald * Maria Fetherstonhaugh (1847–1918), a novelist who also used the name Minna Carleton, was married at Kirkoswald in 1865 to Timothy Fetherstonhaugh, once a captain of the 13th Hussars.

References

External links