Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for KIRKOSWALD

KIRKOSWALD, a village, a township, a parish, and a sub-district in Penrith district, Cumberland. The village stands dispersedly on the sides and crown of high ground, adjoining the influx of the Raven beck to the river Eden, 6 miles ENE of Plumpton r. station, and 8 NE by N of Penrith; takes its name from Oswald, the ancient canonized king of Northumbria; was burnt in 1314 by the Scots; was once a market town; is now a polling place; and has a post office‡ under Penrith, and fairs on the Thursday before Whit-Monday and on 5 August. - The township comprises 5, 000 acres. Real property, £3, 524; of which £18 are in mines. Pop., 672. Houses, 154.—The parish contains also the township of Staffield, and comprises 10, 472 acres. Real property, £7, 372. Pop., 944. Houses, 194. The property is much subdivided. A castle was built on a hill, about a ¼ of a mile E of the village, by Ranulph d'Engain; passed to Hugh de Morville, one of the murderers of Thomas à Becket; descended to the Miltons, the Dacres, and the Musgraves; was pronounced by Sandford " the fairest fabric that ever he looked upon; '' and has left some small remains. The College and Staffield Hall are now chief residences; and the former occupies the site of a college for twelve priests, which was attached to the church, and was plundered by the parliamentary troops in the civil war. A six arched bridge, erected in 1762, spans the Eden; and a one arched bridge spans Raven beck. There are paper, corn, and saw mills. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Carlisle. Value, £176. * Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church stands at the base of a hill, a short way apart from the village; is approached through a fine avenue of lime trees; shows late Norman and early English characters, modified by restorations and alterations; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with two porches; was made collegiate in 1523, by T. Threlkeld; contains a tomb of Featherstonehaugh, who was beheaded in 1651; and includes a spring, which is supposed to have been formerly used for baptizing. The belfry connected with it stands on the hill above. There are an Independent chapel built in 1866, a Wesleyan chapel, an endowed national school, and charities, £26.—The sub-district contains also six other parishes and part of another. Acres, 64, 409. Pop., 5, 815. Houses, 1, 159.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a township, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Kirkoswald CP/AP       Kirkoswald SubD       Penrith RegD/PLU       Cumberland AncC
Place: Kirkoswald

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