View source for Keswick, Cumbria

{{Short description|Town and civil parish in Cumbria, England}}
{{featured article}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| coordinates              = {{Wikidatacoord|Q1025076|display=inline,title}}
| official_name            = Keswick
|population                = 4,658
|population_ref            = <ref name=2021census>{{cite web |title=2021 Census Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=31 March 2025}} (To get individual community data, use the query function on table PP002.)</ref>
| civil_parish             = Keswick<ref>{{cite web |title=Planning – Keswick Parish |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood-plans/keswick-parish2 |website=Lake District National Park |access-date=30 July 2019 |date=3 October 2016 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112215022/https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/planning/neighbourhood-plans/keswick-parish2 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| unitary_england          = [[Cumberland (unitary authority)|Cumberland]]
| lieutenancy_england      = [[Cumbria]]
| region                   = North West England
| constituency_westminster = [[Penrith and Solway]]
| post_town                = KESWICK
| postcode_district        = CA12
| postcode_area            = CA
| dial_code                = 017687
| os_grid_reference        = NY270233
| london_distance          = 
| static_image_name        = {{multiple images
 |border                   = infobox
 |perrow                   = 2
 |total_width              = 260px
 |image1                   = The Parish Church of Keswick, St John - geograph.org.uk - 475546.jpg
 |image2                   = Jennings Bank Tavern, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 1529801.jpg
 |image3                   = Market Square, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 387633.jpg
 |image4                   = Moot Hall, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 1529777.jpg
 |image5                   = Keswick, Cumbria Panorama 2 - June 2009.jpg
 }}
| static_image_alt         = Montage of outdoor shots of Keswick buildings
}}
'''Keswick''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|z|ɪ|k}} {{respell|KEZ|ik}}) is a [[market town]] and [[civil parish]] in the [[Cumberland (unitary authority)|Cumberland]] unitary authority area of [[Cumbria]], England. It lies within the [[Lake District National Park]], just north of [[Derwentwater]] and {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} from [[Bassenthwaite Lake]]. The parish had a population of 4,658 at the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]].

There is evidence of [[Prehistoric Cumbria|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 [[market charter|charter]] for Keswick's market, which has maintained a continuous 700-year existence. The town was an important [[Coal mining in the United Kingdom|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, Keswick|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 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 (village)|Grasmere]], {{convert|12|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} away, they made the scenic beauty of the area widely known to readers in Britain and beyond. In 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 [[St Kentigern's Church, Crosthwaite|Crosthwaite parish]] and co-founder of the [[National Trust]], which has built up extensive holdings in the area.

==Name==
The town is first recorded in Edward I's charter of the 13th century, as "Kesewik".<ref name=ml/> Scholars have generally considered 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 expansion#England|Viking-settled areas]], as Keswick was, would not have been given a [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Saxon]] name; he proposed instead that the word is of Danish or [[Norse activity in the British Isles|Norse]] origin, and means "Kell's place at the bend of the river".<ref name=":0">Flom, George T. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27713787 "The Origin of the Place-Name 'Keswick'"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107100012/http://www.jstor.org/stable/27713787 |date=7 January 2017 }}, ''The Journal of English and Germanic Philology'', Volume 18, number 2, April 1919, pp. 221–225 {{subscription required }}</ref> 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]].<ref>Ekwall, p. 273; and Mills, A. D. [http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001/acref-9780199609086-e-7549 "Keswick"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903042603/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199609086.001.0001/acref-9780199609086-e-7549 |date=3 September 2014 }}, ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', Oxford University Press, 2011; Oxford Reference, retrieved 23 June 2014 {{subscription required }}</ref><ref name=whaley/>{{refn|Other suggested derivations include "kesh" (water hemlock), "Ketelswick" (after a supposed Viking settler) and "kis" (a Norwegian term for iron pyrites).<ref>Bott, p. 10</ref> Among those espousing the "cheese-farm" origin, Ekwall and Whaley equate the name of Keswick with that of the London area [[Chiswick]]; Whaley writes that the former's "K" is due to Scandinavian influence.<ref name=whaley>Whaley, pp. lx, 195 and 423</ref><ref>Ekwall, p. 106</ref>|group= n}}

==Prehistory==
[[File:Castlerigg Stone Circle.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=Prehistoric stone circle|[[Castlerigg stone circle]]]]
Evidence of prehistoric occupation in the area includes the [[Castlerigg stone circle]] on the eastern fringe of the town, which has been dated to {{Circa|3200 [[Anno Domini|BC]]}}.<ref>Barrie, p. 90</ref> [[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".<ref>Collingwood, p. 6</ref> There is little evidence of sustained settlement in the area during the [[Bronze Age]], but from excavations of [[hill fort]]s it is clear that there was some [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] occupation, circa 500 BC, although scholars are not agreed about how permanent it was.<ref>Bott, p. 3</ref>

In [[Roman Britain]] Cumbria was the territory of the [[Carvetii]].<ref>Charles-Edwards, p. 11</ref> 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 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.<ref>Rice, p. 92; and Bott, p. 4</ref> Such nearby settlements as can be traced from the era of the Romans and the years after their departure seem to have been predominantly [[Celts|Celtic]]. Many local place names from the period, including that of the [[River Derwent, Cumbria|River Derwent]], are Celtic, some closely related to Welsh equivalents.{{refn|"Derwent" derives from "dervā", meaning "river where oaks are common", which Ekwall compares with the Welsh "derw".<ref>Ekwall, p. 143</ref>|group= n}}

Several Christian saints [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|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 [[Herbert of Derwentwater|St Herbert of Derwentwater]] and his contemporary [[St Kentigern]].<ref name=b4>Bott, pp. 4–5</ref> The former, the pupil and friend of [[St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne]], lived as a hermit on an island in Derwentwater, now named after him.<ref name=b4/> Kentigern, who lived and preached in the area before moving to Wales, is traditionally held to have founded [[Crosthwaite Parish Church|Crosthwaite Church]], which was the parish church of Keswick until the 19th century.<ref>Wilson and Kaye, pp. 5–6</ref>

==History==

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Keswick Saturday Market, Cumbria - June 2009.jpg|thumb|alt=Street market with stalls under canvas roofs|Keswick's market has been thriving for more than 700 years.]]
Keswick's recorded history starts in the [[England in the Middle Ages|Middle Ages]]. The area was conquered by the Anglo-Saxon [[Kingdom of Northumbria]] in the 7th century, but Northumbria was destroyed by the [[Viking]]s 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.<ref>Charles-Edwards, pp. 12, 575; Clarkson, pp. 12, 63–66, 154–58</ref> 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, the borders of which met at Keswick.<ref name=b11>Bott, p. 11</ref> In 1181 [[Jocelyn of Furness]] wrote of a new [[Crosthwaite Parish Church|church at Crosthwaite]], Keswick, founded by Alice de Romilly, the Lady of Allerdale, a direct descendant of William II's original barons.<ref name=w8>Wilson and Kaye, p. 8</ref> In 1189, [[Richard I]] granted the rectory of Crosthwaite to the [[Cistercian]] order of [[Fountains Abbey]].<ref>Rice, p. 103</ref>

During the 13th century, agricultural land around the town was acquired by Fountains and [[Furness Abbey|Furness]] Abbeys. The latter, already prosperous from 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.<ref name=b11/> Furness also enjoyed profitable rights to the extraction of iron ore.<ref>Rice, p. 95</ref>

{{Quote box |bgcolor=#FDF0F0 |salign=right| quote = 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.| source = Grant by [[Edward I]], 18 July 1276<ref name=ml>Maxwell Lyte ''et al.'', p. 200</ref>|align=left| width=30%}} 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.<ref>Bott, p. 12; Jackson, p. 119; and [http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/keswick/ "Keswick"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806062455/http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/keswick/ |date=6 August 2014 }} Visit Cumbria, retrieved 29 August 2014</ref> The pattern of buildings around 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 [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scots]]. In the event it appears that the town escaped such attacks, Scottish raiders finding richer and more accessible targets at [[Carlisle]] and the fertile [[River Eden, Cumbria|Eden Valley]], well to the north of Keswick.<ref>Bott, pp. 12–13</ref>

===16th and 17th centuries: agriculture and industry===
[[File:German-miners-16thcent.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=old picture of miners at work in the 16th century|German miners sorting [[copper ore]], 16th century]]
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 [[Medieval English wool trade|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 a market centre, though at first the town remained only modestly prosperous: in the 1530s [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] wrote of it as "a lytle poore market town".<ref>Linton, p. 58</ref> 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, 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".<ref>Camden, p. 170</ref>

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 the Crown was entitled to royalties on metals extracted from English land.<ref name="Bott 17">Bott, p. 17</ref> 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 [[Mercury (element)|quicksilver]]" in the Keswick area and elsewhere.<ref name="Bott 17"/>

[[File:Moot-hall-plaque.jpg|thumb|alt=Plaque on Keswick's Moot Hall, giving construction and rebuilding dates of 1571, 1695 and 1813|left|Plaque on Keswick's Moot Hall detailing its history from the 16th century]]
As well as copper, a new substance 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 cannon|English naval cannon]].<ref name=b22>Bott, pp. 22–23</ref> Later, from the second half of the 18th century, it was used to make pencils, for which Keswick became famous.<ref name=b22/>

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.<ref>Bott, p. 20</ref> Graphite mining continued, and quarrying for [[Slate industry#Other slate producing areas in Great Britain|slate]] began to grow in importance. Other small-scale industries grew up, such as tannery and weaving. Although 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.<ref>Bott, pp. 28–30</ref>
{{Clear}}

===18th and 19th centuries: beginnings of tourism===
[[File:Loutherbourg-skiddaw-1787.jpg|thumb|alt=18th-century painting of horse-drawn coach on a country road|''[[Skiddaw]] in Cumberland, a Summer Evening with a Coach and Horseman'', by [[Philip James de Loutherbourg]], 1787]]
The historian George Bott regards [[John Dalton (poet)|John Dalton]] (1709–63) and [[John Brown (essayist)|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 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.<ref>Gray, p. 325</ref> His journal was widely read, and was, in Bott's phrase, "an effective public relations job for Keswick".<ref name=b39/> Painters such as [[Thomas Smith of Derby]] and [[William Bellers]] also contributed to the influx of visitors; engravings of their paintings of Cumberland scenery sold in large numbers, further enhancing the fame of the area.<ref name=b39>Bott, p. 39</ref> In 1800 the [[Romanticism|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."<ref>Lindopp p. 165</ref> Coleridge had moved to Keswick in that year, and together with his fellow [[Lake Poets]] (see [[#Lake Poets and other Keswick notables|below]]) was possibly the strongest influence on the public esteem of Keswick and the Lake District.<ref name=lp/>

During the 18th century and into the 19th, [[turnpike trusts]] were established and major roads in Cumberland were greatly improved.<ref>Bott, pp. 30–31</ref> 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.<ref name=b43>Bott, p. 43</ref> Regular public coach services were established in the 1760s, but they were expensive. The ten-hour journey from [[Whitehaven]] to Penrith via Keswick cost 12 [[shilling]]s (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.<ref>Bott, p. 91; and Olsen, p. 124</ref> Nonetheless, by the 19th century the number of tourists visiting Keswick during each season was estimated at between 12,000 and 15,000.<ref>[http://www.johndobson.info/Tourists/NumberedPages/Page_28.php "The Growth of Keswick, with particular reference to its inns"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903145203/http://www.johndobson.info/Tourists/NumberedPages/Page_28.php |date=3 September 2014 }}, The Wordsworth Trust, retrieved 29 August 2014</ref> Some of the Keswick inns that catered for affluent visitors remain as hotels, including the Queen's, where Gray stayed.<ref name=b43/>

[[File:Pencil-making-Keswick-1850s.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=19th-century drawing of a factory worker at a pencil-making machine|Pencil-making at Keswick in the 1850s]]
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: the new [[Bessemer process]] of steelmaking brought a great demand for the rich iron ore from west Cumberland and the [[coke (fuel)|coking]] coal from [[County Durham|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.<ref>Bott, p. 93</ref> The line opened for goods traffic in 1864, and the following year it began to carry passengers.<ref>Gradon, p. 23</ref> Fares varied, but holidaymakers could buy excursion tickets at discounted prices, such as six shillings for the {{convert|170|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} return journey from [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] to Keswick.<ref>Bott, p. 96</ref>

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 was the town's most important manufacturing industry by the mid-19th century, textiles and leather goods having declined.<ref>Bott, pp. 23–24</ref>

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;<ref>Bott, p. 122</ref> a water works began operation in 1856; and Keswick police station opened in 1857.<ref>Bott, pp. 88 and 122</ref> The local weekly newspaper, ''The Keswick Reminder'' 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."<ref>Brasher, Christopher. "Secrets of a success story", ''The Guardian'', 9 July 1978, p. 11</ref>

[[File:H-D-Rawnsley-1918.jpg|thumb|alt=Head shot of a bearded 19th-century clergyman|upright|[[Hardwicke Rawnsley|Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley]], cleric and conservationist]]
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 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.<ref>"Hand Workers in Metals", ''The Times'', 1 September 1933, p. 14; and Bott, p. 150</ref> He revived the ancient May Day festival in the town, and was a leading figure in the establishment of Keswick School,<ref>Murphy, Graham. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37884 "Rawnsley, Hardwicke Drummond (1851–1920)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, retrieved 2 October 2014 {{ODNBsub }}</ref> Blencathra Sanatorium and the County Farm School.<ref>Rice, p. 106</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.visitcumbria.com/national-trust-in-cumbria-history/ "The History of The National Trust in Cumbria"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903110001/http://www.visitcumbria.com/national-trust-in-cumbria-history/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, Visit Cumbria, retrieved 27 August 2014</ref>

===20th century and beyond===
Keswick's history throughout the 20th century was one of increasing reliance on tourism, 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, Cumbria|River Greta]] on the road leading out of Keswick towards Cockermouth.<ref>Bott, p. 24</ref> The conservation movement continued to develop; Rawnsley led successful campaigns to save the medieval Greta and [[Portinscale]] bridges from replacement with ferro-concrete structures;<ref>"The Care of Old Bridges", ''The Times'', 30 October 1911, p. 9; and "Portinscale Bridge", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 1 November 1911, p. 8</ref> and the National Trust continued to acquire land locally.<ref>"Friar's Crag for the Nation: Memorial to Canon Rawnsley", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 5 February 1921, p. 6</ref> In the First World War Keswick lost many of its young men: the war memorial near [[Fitz Park]] commemorates 117 names,<ref>[http://www.ww1-yorkshires.org.uk/html-files/keswick-cumbria.htm "War Memorials Elsewhere: Keswick, Cumbria"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903142325/http://www.ww1-yorkshires.org.uk/html-files/keswick-cumbria.htm |date=3 September 2014 }}, The Yorkshire Regiment, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> from a population at the time of less than 4,500.<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table_page.jsp?tab_id=EW1911POP2_M5&u_id=10154005&show=DB "1911 Census – Keswick"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070236/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table_page.jsp?tab_id=EW1911POP2_M5&u_id=10154005&show=DB |date=6 October 2014 }}, Vision of Britain, University of Portsmouth, retrieved 3 September 2014</ref> 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 the Lake District", and continued:
{{blockquote|Keswick's chief industry is to promote the contentment and happiness of its visitors. Its pleasant position provides at the outset a tonic atmosphere&nbsp;... 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 is offered to visitors at reasonable prices. Keswick is the best centre from which to visit Lakeland.<ref>"Keswick and the Lake District", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 24 March 1934, p. 17</ref>|}}

During the Second World War, students from [[Liverpool Hope University|St Katharine's College, Liverpool]], and [[Roedean School]], Sussex, were [[Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|evacuated to Keswick]] when their own buildings were requisitioned for use as a hospital and a navy base respectively.<ref>Wilkinson, pp. 139 and 170–171; [http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1405046 "Former St Katharine's College"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910013008/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1405046 |date=10 September 2014 }}, English Heritage; and [http://www.roedean.co.uk/senior-school-history-of-roedean/ "History of Roedean"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903060347/http://www.roedean.co.uk/senior-school-history-of-roedean/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, Roedean, both retrieved 30 June 2014</ref> Students were also brought to the safety of Keswick from [[Central Newcastle High School]],<ref>Wilkinson, pp. 74–75</ref> Hunmanby Hall School, [[Yorkshire]],<ref>Wilkinson, p. 123</ref> and the Liverpool Orphanage.<ref>Wilkinson, pp. 136–138</ref>

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.<ref>Robinson, Jeremy Rowan. [http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/168587/birthday_book_for_web.pdf "A sort of national property: managing the Lake District National Park – the first 60 years"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204095048/http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/168587/birthday_book_for_web.pdf |date=4 December 2013 }}, Lake District National Park, retrieved 29 August 2014</ref> Keswick's population has remained stable at a little below 5,000 residents.{{refn|The figures for the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses were respectively 4,836, 4,984 and 4,821.<ref>[http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-northwestengland.php?cityid=E34002735 "Keswick (Cumbria)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903145232/http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-northwestengland.php?cityid=E34002735 |date=3 September 2014 }}, City Population, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>|group= n}} The town's reliance on tourism increased in 2006 when Cumberland Pencils moved production from Keswick to Lillyhall, [[Workington]], only the [[Derwent Pencil Museum]] remaining at the old site.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cumbria/6723391.stm "End of an era at pencil factory"], BBC, 5 June 2007, retrieved 29 August 2014</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/171190/keswick_factsheet.pdf "Keswick"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718042005/http://lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/171190/keswick_factsheet.pdf |date=18 July 2014 }}, Lake District National Park Authority Education Service, 2005, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> The age profile of 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 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.<ref>Averages taken from [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=CA12+5JF&d=16&e=13&g=6411055&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1409734685840&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2474 "Age Structure, 2011"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070503/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=CA12+5JF&d=16&e=13&g=6411055&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1409734685840&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2474 |date=6 October 2014 }}, Neighbourhood statistics: Keswick, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 3 September 2014</ref> 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.{{refn|The respective figures are 1.9 compared to 3.5%; 15.5 to 7%; and 0.3 to 1%.<ref name=stats>Averages taken from [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=CA12+5JF&d=16&e=13&g=6411055&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1409734685840&enc=1&dsFamilyId=41 "Socio-economic Classification"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104102/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=CA12+5JF&d=16&e=13&g=6411055&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1409734685840&enc=1&dsFamilyId=41 |date=6 October 2014 }}, Neighbourhood statistics: Keswick, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 3 September 2014</ref>|group= n}}

===Ownership===
[[File:Engraving of James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater]], who was executed for treason in 1716]]

In medieval times the township 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 the [[Jacobite rising of 1715]].<ref name=b61/> In 1735 the Crown granted the income from the estates to support the [[Greenwich Hospital, London|Greenwich Hospital]], London. Land to the south and west were part of Greenwich Hospital's forestry and farming estates until the 19th century.<ref name=b61>Bott, p. 61</ref> In 1925 the then owner, Sir John Randles, gave the National Trust {{Convert|90|acre}} of land in this estate, including the foreshore woodland.<ref>Sir John Randles's Gift", ''The Times'', 24 August 1925, p. 11</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Council Offices, Keswick Main Street - geograph.org.uk - 3336039.jpg|thumb|Council Offices, 50 Main Street]]
There are two tiers of local government covering Keswick, at [[Parish council (England)|parish]] (town) and [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] level: Keswick Town Council and [[Cumberland Council]]. The town council is based at 50 Main Street.<ref>{{cite web |title=Keswick Town Council |url=https://keswicktowncouncil.gov.uk/ |access-date=29 April 2025 }}</ref> The parish is wholly within the Lake District National Park, and so some functions are administered by the Lake District National Park Authority, notably [[town planning|planning]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Planning |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/planning |website=Lake District National Park |date=8 November 2024 |access-date=10 April 2025 }}</ref>

For national elections, Keswick is within the [[Penrith and Solway]] constituency.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=10 April 2025 }}</ref>

===Administrative history===
Keswick was historically a [[Township (England)|township]] of the extensive parish of [[Great Crosthwaite|Crosthwaite]], in the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Cumberland]]. Crosthwaite's parish church of St Kentigern's is {{convert|0.5|miles|km|1}} north of the centre of Keswick at [[Great Crosthwaite]] on the north side of the River Greta; it was historically in the township of [[Underskiddaw]].<ref name=Whellan>{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=Thomas |last2=Cumming |first2=J. G. |last3=Martineau |first3=Harriett |editor1-last=Whellan |editor1-first=William |title=The History and Topography of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland |date=1860 |publisher=Whittaker and Co. |location=London |pages=328, 334 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkJCAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328 |access-date=23 April 2025 }}</ref> The township of Keswick took on civil functions under the [[poor laws]] from the 17th century onwards, and therefore also became a [[civil parish]] in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv }}</ref><ref name=VoB>{{cite web |title=Keswick Chapelry / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10096546 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=29 April 2025 }}</ref> In ecclesiastical terms, Keswick became a separate [[ecclesiastical parish]] from Crosthwaite in 1839, following the completion of St John's Church in the town.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0-86193-127-0 |page=54 }}</ref><ref name=Kelly's/>

The township of Keswick was also made a [[local board district]] in 1853.<ref name=Kelly's/> The district's boundaries were enlarged in 1876 to take in part of the neighbouring township of [[St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation (Birmingham, &c.) Act 1876 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/39-40/202/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=29 April 2025 }}</ref> The boundaries were enlarged again in 1894, to take in Great Crosthwaite village from the civil parish of Underskiddaw, further territory from St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn, and a former [[extra-parochial area]] east of the town known as Briery.<ref name=VoB/> Local board districts were reconstituted as [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] under the [[Local Government Act 1894]].<ref name=Kelly's>{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Cumberland |date=1906 |page=175 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/46111/rec/2 |access-date=23 April 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Underskiddaw Township / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10066761 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=23 April 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Diagram of Cumberland showing Administrative Boundaries |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/241241962 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=23 April 2024 |date=1900 }}</ref>

In its early days, the urban district council met at the town's Moot Hall, and bought the building from the [[lord of the manor]] in 1896.<ref name=lake>{{cite web |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning/forteachers/archaeologyindepth/moothall |title=Moot Hall |publisher=Lake District National Park |access-date=1 August 2020 }}</ref> The urban district council moved its meetings and offices to a converted former bank at 50 Main Street in 1926.<ref>{{cite news |title=Municipal Buildings for Keswick |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0002296%2F19260202&page=2 |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Penrith Observer |date=2 February 1926 |page=2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Keswick Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan |date=October 2022 |publisher=Lake District National Park Authority |page=29 |url=https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/103587/Keswick-CA-Appraisal-and-Management-Plan-22.10.24opt.pdf |access-date=6 April 2025 }}</ref>

Keswick Urban District was abolished in 1974.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cockermouth Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10154005#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=15 April 2025 }}</ref> The area became part of the borough of [[Allerdale]] in the new county of Cumbria.<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=si |si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 |year=1972 |number=2039 |access-date=3 March 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=si |si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973 |year=1973 |number=551 |access-date=3 March 2023 }}</ref> A [[successor parish]] of Keswick was created covering the former urban district, with its parish council taking the name Keswick Town Council.<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=si |si=The Local Government (Successor Parishes) Order 1973 |year=1973 |number=1110 }}</ref> Allerdale was abolished in 2023 when the new Cumberland Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.<ref name=2022order>{{cite legislation UK |type=si |si=The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022 |year=2022 |number=331 |access-date=24 January 2024 }}</ref>

==Geography==
{{wide image|Keswick, Cumbria Panorama 1 - June 2009.jpg|1000px|A panoramic view of Keswick, Derwentwater and the surrounding fells, as viewed from [[Latrigg]] north of the town}}

Keswick lies in north-western England, in the heart of the northern Lake District. The town is {{convert|31+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} southwest of Carlisle, {{convert|22|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Windermere]] and {{convert|14+1/4|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=on}} southeast of Cockermouth.<ref name="GM">{{Google maps | url =https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Cockermouth,+Cumbria,+UK/%2754.59990,-3.129300%27/@54.6343779,-3.3882362,30095m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m11!4m10!1m5!1m1!1s0x487ccfb83a9d9873:0xf80c0507efabfbb9!2m2!1d-3.367985!2d54.663261!1m3!2m2!1d-3.1293!2d54.5999?hl=en | access-date =31 August 2014 }}</ref> [[Derwentwater]], the lake southwest of the town, measures approximately {{convert|3|x|1|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=on}} and is some {{convert|72|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep. It contains several islands, including Derwent Isle, Lord's Island, Rampsholme Island and St Herbert's Island, 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.<ref>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wra-1356299840097/view-page/item400001/ The Islands of Derwentwater] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903055753/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wra-1356299840097/view-page/item400001/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, National Trust, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> 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, Cumbria|River Derwent]] flows from Derwentwater to [[Bassenthwaite Lake|Bassenthwaite]], the most northerly of the major Cumbrian lakes. The Derwent and its tributary the [[River Greta, Cumbria|Greta]], which flows through Keswick, meet to the east of Portinscale.<ref name="GM"/> The source of the Greta is near [[Threlkeld]], at the confluence of the [[River Glenderamackin]] and [[St John's Beck]].<ref>Harper, p. 151</ref>

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;<ref>Millward and Stone, p. 5; Allaby, Michael (ed) [http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199211944.001.0001/acref-9780199211944-e-5893 "Ordovician] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903162824/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199211944.001.0001/acref-9780199211944-e-5893 |date=3 September 2014 }}", ''A Dictionary of Earth Sciences'', Oxford University Press, 2008 {{subscription required }}</ref> they form a triangle sheltering the town, reaching a maximum height of {{Convert|931|m|abbr=on}} on Skiddaw itself.<ref>[https://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/171188/factsheet_geology.pdf "Geology factsheet"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105041324/http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/171188/factsheet_geology.pdf |date= 5 November 2016 }}, Lake District National Park Authority, Education Service, retrieved 10 July 2014</ref> To the west of Portinscale, to the south-west of the village of [[Thornthwaite]], is [[Whinlatter Forest Park]] and [[Grisedale Pike]].<ref name="GM"/> 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, 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.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-217196794.html Electrifying news for Keswick ramblers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921210021/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-217196794.html |date=21 September 2014 }}, ''Lakeland Echo'' (Morecambe, England), 21 January 2010}</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/nw/ "North West climate region"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003213/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/nw/ |date=5 June 2011 }}, UK Meteorological Office, retrieved 2 September 2014</ref> Keswick's wettest months fall at the end of the year, the peak average of {{Convert|189.3|mm|abbr=on}} falling in October. Rain, sunshine and temperature figures are shown below.

{{Weather box
| location = Keswick (1991–2020 averages)
| metric first = Yes
| single line = Yes
| Jan high C = 7.4
| Feb high C = 7.8
| Mar high C = 9.7
| Apr high C = 12.4
| May high C = 15.8
| Jun high C = 18.2
| Jul high C = 19.8
| Aug high C = 19.2
| Sep high C = 17.0
| Oct high C = 13.5
| Nov high C = 10.0
| Dec high C = 7.8
| year high C = 13.2
| Jan mean C = 4.7
| Feb mean C = 4.8
| Mar mean C = 6.3
| Apr mean C = 8.4
| May mean C = 11.3
| Jun mean C = 14.0
| Jul mean C = 15.7
| Aug mean C = 15.3
| Sep mean C = 13.2
| Oct mean C = 10.2
| Nov mean C = 7.1
| Dec mean C = 4.9
| Jan low C = 2.0
| Feb low C = 1.8
| Mar low C = 2.8
| Apr low C = 4.4
| May low C = 6.8
| Jun low C = 9.7
| Jul low C = 11.6
| Aug low C = 11.4
| Sep low C = 9.4
| Oct low C = 6.8
| Nov low C = 4.2
| Dec low C = 1.9
| year low C = 6.1
|precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 172.5
| Feb precipitation mm = 135.4
| Mar precipitation mm = 114.9
| Apr precipitation mm = 82.8
| May precipitation mm = 81.6
| Jun precipitation mm = 89.9
| Jul precipitation mm = 94.9
| Aug precipitation mm = 120.2
| Sep precipitation mm = 124.4
| Oct precipitation mm = 175.0
| Nov precipitation mm = 188.6
| Dec precipitation mm = 195.2
| year precipitation mm =
| unit precipitation days = 1 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 16.8
| Feb precipitation days = 14.3
| Mar precipitation days = 14.1
| Apr precipitation days = 12.5
| May precipitation days = 12.4
| Jun precipitation days = 12.7
| Jul precipitation days = 13.5
| Aug precipitation days = 15.2
| Sep precipitation days = 13.5
| Oct precipitation days = 17.0
| Nov precipitation days = 18.2
| Dec precipitation days = 17.8
| year precipitation days =
| source 1 = [[UK Met Office]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages/gcty8njjs |title=Keswick (Cumbria) UK climate averages |publisher=[[UK Met Office]] |access-date=10 January 2022 }}</ref>
| source =
}}

==Demography==
At the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], the parish had a population of 4,658,<ref name=2021census/> and the built up area had a population of 4,344.<ref>{{cite web |title=Towns and cities, characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales: Census 2021 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/townsandcitiescharacteristicsofbuiltupareasenglandandwales/census2021 |website=Census 2021 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=8 August 2023}}  To get data for individual built-up areas, query the 'Population Estimates / Projections' dataset, then the 'Small area (2021 based) by single year of age - England and Wales' and then choose '2022 built-up areas' for the geography.</ref> The population of the parish had been 5,243 at the 2011 census.<ref>[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=Keswick&d=16&e=62&g=6411038&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1434625982452&enc=1 "Neighbourhood statistics"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618161403/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125137&c=Keswick&d=16&e=62&g=6411038&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1434625982452&enc=1 |date=18 June 2015 }}, Office for National Statistics, retrieved 18 June 2015</ref>

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.<ref>Garnet, p. 16</ref> In the 1640s there was a sharp fall in population, brought on by the plague epidemic which affected Keswick, Carlisle, Cockermouth and Crosthwaite and other areas in 1645–47.<ref>Thirsk, p. 7</ref>

In the [[Census Act 1800#Administration of the 1801 census|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.<ref name=w339>Whellan, p. 339</ref> In 1871 the township had a population of 2,777 people.<ref>Lewis, p. 161</ref> The population grew at a faster rate towards the late 19th century and by 1901 it stood at 4,451 people.<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table_page.jsp?tab_id=EW1911POP2_M5&u_id=10154005&show=DB 1911 Census of England and Wales] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006070236/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table_page.jsp?tab_id=EW1911POP2_M5&u_id=10154005&show=DB |date=6 October 2014 }}, Vision of Britain, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-northwestengland.php "Northwest England"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140731001111/http://www.citypopulation.de/php/uk-england-northwestengland.php |date=31 July 2014 }}, City Population, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS030/editions/2021/versions/2 |access-date=16 February 2023 |website=www.ons.gov.uk }}</ref>

==Landmarks==
{{See also|Listed buildings in Keswick, Cumbria}}
[[File:Moot Hall, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 609044.jpg|alt=Ancient civic building in town square|thumb|upright|[[Moot Hall, Keswick|Moot Hall]] in Keswick]]
Keswick is the home of the Theatre by the Lake, opened in 1999.<ref name=tbl>Thorncroft Tony. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:FINB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=113B7EF4409C5B58&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "Wave of delight greets Keswick theatre"], ''[[The Financial Times]]'', 10 September 1999; and Ward, David.<br>[http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:EGLL&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F273607D0A1D35F&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "Reinvention of regional theatre in the Lakes"], ''The Guardian'', 10 July 1999</ref> The theatre serves a dual purpose as the permanent home of a professional repertory company and a venue for visiting performers and festivals.<ref>[http://www.theatrebythelake.com/whats-on "What's On"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815002930/http://www.theatrebythelake.com/whats-on |date=15 August 2014 }}, Theatre by the Lake, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> It replaced the [[Century Theatre (UK)|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.<ref name=tbl/><ref>[http://www.centurytheatre.co.uk/history "History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006100037/http://www.centurytheatre.co.uk/history |date=6 October 2014 }}, Century Theatre, retrieved 4 October 2014</ref> The Alhambra cinema in St John Street, opened in 1913, 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 [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]], [[Royal Opera House]] and other venues.<ref>Legg, Matthew. [http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/98-year-old-cumbrian-cinema-saved-from-closure-1.910579 "98-year-old Cumbrian cinema saved from closure"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074255/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/98-year-old-cumbrian-cinema-saved-from-closure-1.910579 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''[[CN group|The Cumberland News]]'', 29 December 2011; [http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/the-cinema-where-james-bond-watches-while-you-have-a-pee-1.1111072 "The cinema where James Bond watches while you have a pee"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074540/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/the-cinema-where-james-bond-watches-while-you-have-a-pee-1.1111072 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 2 January 2014; and [http://www.keswick-alhambra.co.uk/ "Home"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104113/http://www.keswick-alhambra.co.uk/ |date=6 October 2014 }}, Alhambra Cinema, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/cumberland-pencil-museum-celebrates-30-years-1.841844 "Cumberland Pencil museum celebrates 30 years"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006185231/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/cumberland-pencil-museum-celebrates-30-years-1.841844 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 30 May 2011</ref> Fitz Park, on the bank of the River Greta, is home to the [[Keswick Museum and Art Gallery]], a [[Victorian era|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 [[Jacob Epstein|Epstein]], [[John Opie]], [[Richard Westall]] and others.<ref>[http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/keswick-museum/the-collection.aspx "The Collection"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006214008/http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/keswick-museum/the-collection.aspx |date=6 October 2014 }}, Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> After extensive restoration and enlargement the museum reopened in 2014.<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/new-beginning-for-keswick-museum-1.1138037 "New beginning for Keswick museum"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074630/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/new-beginning-for-keswick-museum-1.1138037 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 23 May 2014; and [http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/keswick-museum.aspx "Home"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220204445/http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/keswick-museum.aspx |date=20 February 2010 }}, Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> In 2001 the cricket ground in Fitz Park was named the most beautiful in England by ''[[Wisden Cricket Monthly]]''.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/1589196.stm "Keswick wins beauty parade"], BBC, 11 October 2001, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref>

[[Greta Hall]] (see Lake Poets, below), is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|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.<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3058/greta-hall-home-of-coleridge-opens-its-doors-1.1084460 "Greta Hall, home of Coleridge, opens its doors"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084358/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3058/greta-hall-home-of-coleridge-opens-its-doors-1.1084460 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 20 September 2013; and [http://www.gretahall.net/ "Home"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040816175510/http://www.gretahall.net/ |date=16 August 2004 }} Greta Hall, retrieved 2 September 2014</ref> The three-storey house dates to the late 18th century and features a flush-panelled central double door with Gothic top panels and Venetian windows. A carved oak fireplace inside is dated to 1684.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71788-greta-house-keswick-cumbria Greta House, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062935/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71788-greta-house-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> The [[Moot Hall, Keswick|Moot Hall]] is a prominent [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|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 a round-arched doorway and a double flight of exterior steps.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71780-the-moot-hall-keswick-cumbria The Moot Hall, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062940/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71780-the-moot-hall-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> At the top of the tower is what the Keswick Tourist Information Board describes as an "unusual one-handed clock". Formerly an assembly building,<ref>Dalton, p. 624</ref> The Moot Hall contains a tourist information centre on the ground floor, with an art gallery on the floor above.<ref>[http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/keswick-tourist-information-centre/ "Keswick Tourist Information Centre"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903110530/http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/keswick-tourist-information-centre/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, Visit Cumbria, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref>

The prominent social thinker and art critic [[John Ruskin]], who had links to Keswick, is commemorated by a memorial at [[Friars' Crag]]. Erected in 1900 on Rawnsley's initiative, it is a [[Grade II listed]] structure.<ref>[http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/ruskin-memorial/ "Ruskin Memorial"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006120218/http://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/ruskin-memorial/ |date=6 October 2014 }}, Visit Cumbria, retrieved 30 September 2014</ref>

===Churches===
{{See also|Keswick Convention}}
[[File:The Parish Church of Keswick, St John - geograph.org.uk - 475546.jpg|thumb|alt=Victorian Gothic church, exterior view|St John's Church, dating from 1838, is the [[parish church]] of Keswick]]
Until 1838, Keswick had no [[Church of England|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 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.<ref>[http://keswickstjohn.org.uk/east-window/ "The East Window"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904133247/http://keswickstjohn.org.uk/east-window/ |date=4 September 2014 }}, Keswick St John, retrieved 3 September 2014</ref> St John's became a Grade II* listed building in 1951.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71800-church-of-st-john-keswick-cumbria Church of St John, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903063109/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71800-church-of-st-john-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> Keswick's former parish church, [[Crosthwaite Parish Church|St Kentigern's]], at Crosthwaite, just outside the town, is also Grade II* listed. Dated to at least 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]].<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71770-church-of-st-kentigern-keswick-cumbria Church of St Kentigern, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227213855/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71770-church-of-st-kentigern-keswick-cumbria |date=27 December 2013 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref>

The [[Quaker]]s had an early meeting house in the town, replaced in 1715 by one at Underskiddaw. [[English Dissenters|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.<ref name=b130>Bott, pp. 130–133</ref> A [[Congregational]] chapel was built in 1858–59.<ref name=b130/> The first [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan]] chapel was built in 1814 in a small yard off Main Street at a cost of £331 10s; the present [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] church is in Southey Street.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20141204235749/http://kcmethodists.org.uk/index.php/keswick-southey-street/2-keswick-southey-street "Keswick"]}}, The Methodist Church, retrieved 29 November 2014</ref> Since 1928 [[Catholic Church in the United Kingdom|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.<ref name=b130/> An [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] church was inaugurated in 2007, holding services in Keswick and the nearby village of [[Braithwaite]].<ref>[http://www.orthodoxcumbria.org/keswick/ "The North Lakes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903120514/http://www.orthodoxcumbria.org/keswick/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, The Orthodox Church in Cumbria, retrieved 30 June 2014</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/maps.php#/mosque/2685 |title=Google Mosque Map – UK Mosques Directory |website=mosques.muslimsinbritain.org |access-date=9 October 2019 }}</ref>

===Public houses and hotels===
Keswick's old inns and their successors include many listed buildings, mainly Grade II in designation.<ref name="BLB">[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/cumbria/keswick Listed Buildings in Keswick, Cumbria, England] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709175317/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/cumbria/keswick |date=9 July 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> The George Hotel, stated to be the oldest inn in the town, dates to the 16th century, with the alterations made during the [[Georgian era|Georgian]] period still evident.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71796-george-hotel-keswick-cumbria George Hotel, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062927/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71796-george-hotel-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> The King's Arms Hotel, in the main market square, dates from the early 19th century; it is built from [[stucco]]ed stone, with [[Victorian era|Victorian]] shop windows on the ground floor.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71782-king-s-arms-hotel-keswick-cumbria King's Arms Hotel, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062823/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71782-king-s-arms-hotel-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71787-central-hotel-keswick-cumbria Central Hotel, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062938/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71787-central-hotel-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014; and [http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/new-look-hotel-opens-in-town-centre.444028.html "New-look hotel opens in town centre"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130062325/http://www.cwherald.com/a/archive/new-look-hotel-opens-in-town-centre.444028.html |date=30 January 2016 }}, ''The Cumberland Herald'', 19 June 2015</ref> The Bank Tavern in Main Street and the Dog and Gun public house in Lake Road are both Grade II listed 18th-century buildings.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71783-the-bank-tavern-keswick-cumbria The Bank Tavern, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062943/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71783-the-bank-tavern-keswick-cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref><ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71779-the-dog-and-gun-public-house-keswick-cumb The Dog and Gun Public House, Keswick] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903062931/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71779-the-dog-and-gun-public-house-keswick-cumb |date=3 September 2014 }}, British Listed Buildings, retrieved 31 August 2014</ref>

{{hidden begin|border=solid #aaa 1px|title=Listed buildings in Keswick}}

The following are the listed buildings in Keswick. The listings are graded:<ref name="BLB"/>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* 10–15, Borrowdale Road (Grade II)
* 123 and 125, Main Street (Grade II)
* 17–23, St John's Street (Grade II)
* 18, High Hill (Grade II)
* 2, Eskin Street (Grade II)
* 25, St John's Street (Grade II)
* 3, Penrith Road (Grade II)
* 3–6, High Hill (Grade II)
* 36–50, St John's Street (Grade II)
* 4 and 6, Derwent Street (Grade II)
* 4 and 6, Eskin Street (Grade II)
* 6–12, Police Station Court (Grade II)
* 8 and 10, Eskin Street (Grade II)
* 85–91, Main Street (Grade II)
* Balustrading, Urns, and Terrace Wall to Garden on North Side of Castlerigg Manor (Grade II)
* Brigham Forge Cottages (Grade II)
* Calvert's Bridge (Grade II)
* Castlerigg Manor (Catholic Youth Centre) (Grade II)
* Castlerigg Manor Lodge (Grade II)
* Central Hotel (Grade II)
* Chestnut Hill House Shelley Cottage with Adjoining Stables and Coach House to North (Grade II)
* Church of St John (Grade II*)
* Church of St Kentigern (Grade II*)
* County Hotel (Grade II)
* Crosthwaite Sunday School (Grade II)
* Crosthwaite Vicarage (Grade II)
* Derwent Isle House (Grade II)
* Forge Bridge (Grade II)
* Formerly Mayson's Shop (Grade II)
* George Hotel (Grade II)
* Greta House (Grade I)
* Heads House (Grade II)
* Ivy Cottage (Grade II)
* Keswick Industrial Arts (Grade II)
* Keswick Railway Station Building and Platform (Grade II)
* King's Arms Hotel (Grade II)
* Oak Cottage Oak Lodge (Grade II)
* Oddfellows Arms Public House (Grade II)
* Packhorse Inn Including Attached Former Stables (Grade II)
* Police Station and Magistrates Court (Grade II)
* Priorholm Hotel (Grade II)
* Royal Oak Hotel (Grade II)
* Ruskin Monument (Grade II)
* Skiddaw Cottage (Grade II)
* Small Outbuilding Opposite Packhorse Inn and Behind Ye Olde Friars (Grade II)
* The Bank Tavern (Grade II)
* The Dog and Gun Public House (Grade II)
* The Moot Hall (Grade II*)
* The Old Chapel at Landing Stage (Grade II)
* Toll Bar Cottage (Grade II)
{{div col end}}
{{hidden end}}

==Education and health==
The Crosthwaite Free Grammar School, adjoining Crosthwaite churchyard, was an ancient institution, its date of foundation uncertain.<ref>Bott, p. 139</ref> In 1819 the parish of Crosthwaite had five or six schools in the town and the outlying areas, with a total of 332 children. By 1833 Keswick had twelve daily schools, including a new [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]] at High Hill.<ref>Bott, p. 144</ref> 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.<ref name=b145/> For older pupils, Keswick School, the free co-educational grammar school, successor to the Crosthwaite Free Grammar School, opened at a site diagonally opposite Greta Bridge in 1898.<ref>[http://www.keswick.cumbria.sch.uk/History-of-Keswick-School "History of Keswick School"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006152401/http://www.keswick.cumbria.sch.uk/History-of-Keswick-School |date=6 October 2014 }}, Keswick School, retrieved 30 September 2014</ref> In 1951 a new [[secondary modern]] school was built at Lairthwaite in Underskiddaw.<ref name=b145>Bott, pp. 145–146</ref>

Junior education is provided by St Herbert's School, which had a roll of 263 in 2013.<ref>[http://keswickstjohn.org.uk/st-herberts-school/ "St Herbert's School"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903104130/http://keswickstjohn.org.uk/st-herberts-school/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, Keswick St John, retrieved 29 August 2014</ref><ref>[https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result/22424/3 "St Herbert's CofE (VA) Primary and Nursery School"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006172541/https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result/22424/3 |date=6 October 2014 }}, Ofsted, retrieved 30 September 2014</ref> At senior level, Keswick and Lairthwaite schools merged in 1980 as a single comprehensive secondary school, with the name Keswick School. It was included in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''{{'}}s list of the top thirty comprehensives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2014.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/leaguetables/11035952/A-level-results-2014-results-from-400-state-schools.html "A-level results 2014"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023213445/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/leaguetables/11035952/A-level-results-2014-results-from-400-state-schools.html |date=23 October 2017 }}, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 15 August 2014</ref> The [[Local Education Authority]] for Keswick is [[Cumbria County Council|Cumbria]].<ref>[http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/leasearch.php?lea=Cumbria "Cumbria"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903125031/http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/leasearch.php?lea=Cumbria |date=3 September 2014 }}, Schoolswebdirectory, retrieved 3 September 2014</ref>

The Mary Hewetson Cottage Hospital, founded in 1892, has fifteen beds and a minor injuries unit.<ref>[http://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=29619 "Mary Hewetson Cottage Hospital"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907171539/http://www.nhs.uk/Services/hospitals/Overview/DefaultView.aspx?id=29619 |date=7 September 2014 }}, National Health Service, retrieved 7 September 2014</ref> It underwent a major rebuilding and upgrade in 2013.<ref>[http://www.itv.com/news/border/story/2013-01-04/1-25-million-for-keswick-hospital/ "£1.25 million for Keswick Hospital"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907171457/http://www.itv.com/news/border/story/2013-01-04/1-25-million-for-keswick-hospital/ |date=7 September 2014 }}, ITV Border, 7 January 2013</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:Keswick Bowls Club - geograph.org.uk - 1517706.jpg|thumb|alt=Bowling green with Victorian building at the rear|Keswick Bowls Club, with the town's Museum and Art Gallery in the background, top left]]
[[File:A cricket match with a view - geograph.org.uk - 1040957.jpg|alt=Cricket ground with wooded hills at the rear|thumb|Cricket ground in Fitz Park]]
Keswick is home to Keswick Football Club. The principal team plays in 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.<ref name="sports clubs">[http://keswicktowncouncil.gov.uk/community/sport-clubs "Sports Clubs"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909005156/http://keswicktowncouncil.gov.uk/community/sport-clubs |date=9 September 2014 }}, Keswick Town Council, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref> Keswick Rugby Union Football Club, established in 1879, plays at Davidson Park, and has teams that play in the Cumbrian League and the Cumbria Rugby Union Raging Bull Competition.<ref>[http://www.keswickrugbyclub.co.uk "Keswick Rugby Football Club"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909005046/http://www.keswickrugbyclub.co.uk/ |date=9 September 2014 }}, Keswick Rugby Club, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref> The rugby club is involved in the organisation of the Keswick Half Marathon, usually held in the first week of May.<ref>[http://scottishrunningguide.com/race/keswick-rugby-club-half-marathon "Keswick Rugby Club Half Marathon"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909004715/http://scottishrunningguide.com/race/keswick-rugby-club-half-marathon |date=9 September 2014 }}, Scottish Running Guide, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref>

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 the North Lancashire and Cumbria Cricket League, Premier Division.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-25183926.html "Football: Keswick leave Moor in basement"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921210027/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-25183926.html |date=21 September 2014 }}, ''Sunday Sun'' (Newcastle-upon-Tyne), 10 June 2007</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.keswickbowlsclub.co.uk/history.html "History"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909005125/http://www.keswickbowlsclub.co.uk/history.html |date=9 September 2014 }}, Keswick Bowls Club, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref>

In cycling, Keswick hosted the Keswick Bikes Borrowdale Cross of the North West League, second round, in September 2010 for junior riders, an event that was supported by the [[British Cycling Federation]].<ref>[https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/29415/Keswick-Bikes-Borrowdale-Cross-/-North-West-League-Round-2 "Keswick Bikes Borrowdale Cross / North West League"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140909004654/https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/29415/Keswick-Bikes-Borrowdale-Cross-/-North-West-League-Round-2 |date=9 September 2014 }}, British Cycling, retrieved 8 September 2014</ref> The same month, the town hosted an activity weekend for children, involving the juniors of the Brooke Steelers Wheelchair Basketball Team, whose senior players who were competing in a {{convert|135|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} race from Keswick to Penrith to raise money for children's cancer.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2133108351.html "Steelers Wheelchair Basketball junior players to attend activity weekend in Cumbria to raise money for Click-Sargent"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921210025/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2133108351.html |date=21 September 2014 }}, US Fed News Service, 8 September 2010</ref> Keswick is also home to Keswick Croquet Club, Keswick Archers, and Greta (Keswick) Junior Badminton Club, for children from eight to 16 years of age.<ref name="sports clubs"/> Keswick Leisure Centre is a fitness centre is operated for Cumberland Council by [[Greenwich Leisure Limited|GLL]] under its "Better" brand.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/parks-culture-and-leisure/leisure-centres | title = Leisure centres | publisher = Cumberland Council | access-date = 1 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/cumberland/keswick-leisure-centre | title = Keswick Leisure Centre | publisher = Better | access-date = 1 December 2025}}</ref>

==Transport==
===Buses===
From the town's bus station, [[Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire]] operates bus services to [[Workington]], [[Cockermouth]], [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]],  [[Grasmere (village)|Grasmere]], [[Ambleside]], [[Windermere railway station]], [[Kendal]], [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]], [[Seatoller]], [[Buttermere]] and Whinlatter visitor centre.{{Efn|And service 77C to Cockermouth via Seatoller and Buttermere once an evening}} [[Open top buses in the United Kingdom|Open top]] buses run to Seatoller.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keswick bus services |website=Bustimes.org |access-date=1 December 2025 |url=https://bustimes.org/localities/keswick-cumbria}}</ref>

===Roads===
Keswick is on the [[A66 road]] linking Workington and Penrith, as well as the [[A591]], linking the town to [[Windermere, Cumbria (town)|Windermere]], Kendal and Carlisle (via the [[A595]]).<ref>[http://england-map1.com/roadmap_of_Cumbria_county_506259.html "Map of Cumbria"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903192336/http://england-map1.com/roadmap_of_Cumbria_county_506259.html |date=3 September 2014 }}, Autoatlas England, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>

The flow of traffic from Penrith to Cockermouth and beyond was eased after the A66 was diverted to a new bypass in 1974, a development that caused controversy because of a prominent new viaduct carrying the road across the Greta Gorge to the north of the town.<ref>"Lakes proposals 'roused very strong emotions'", ''The Times'', 18 March 1972, p. 3</ref>

The majority of visitors arrive by car and are catered for by three town centre car parks, another large one next to the Theatre by the Lake, and smaller ones elsewhere in the town.<ref>[http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking/off-street-car-parks/car-park-list.aspx "Car park list"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903143044/http://www.allerdale.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking/off-street-car-parks/car-park-list.aspx |date=3 September 2014 }}, Allerdale Borough Council, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>

===Railway===
There is no longer a railway link to the town; the line built in the 1860s for the [[Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway]] closed in 1972, along with {{rws|Keswick||Keswick station}}.{{refn|From 1923 to 1948 the line was part of the [[London, Midland and Scottish Railway]]; from 1948 until its closure, it was part of [[British Railways]].<ref>Western, pp. 143, 157 and 187</ref>|group= n}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/k/keswick/index.shtml |last=Young |first=Alan |title=Station name: Keswick |website=Disused Stations |date=22 February 2020 |access-date=1 December 2025}}</ref> Since the 1990s, a plan to rebuild it has been under discussion.<ref>Western, pp. 187–190</ref> Some 90 per cent of the earthworks of the railway still exist but, according to 2000 estimates, a reopening would cost £25 million.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-62067354.html "Keswick rail scheme looks for L1 boost"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921210023/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-62067354.html |date=21 September 2014}}, ''Professional Engineering Magazine'', 6 September 2000</ref>

The nearest [[National Rail]] station is at {{rws|Penrith}}, for [[Avanti West Coast]] services between {{rws|London Euston}} and {{rws|Glasgow Central}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our latest timetables and ticket info |work=Avanti West Coast |date=18 May 2025 |access-date=1 December 2025 |url=https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables}}</ref>

==Media==
Local TV coverage is provided by [[BBC North East and Cumbria]] and [[ITV Border]]. Television signals are received from the [[Caldbeck transmitting station|Caldbeck]] and local relay transmitters.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Caldbeck |title=Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) Full Freeview transmitter |date=May 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Keswick |title=Keswick (Cumbria, England) Freeview Light transmitter |date=May 2004 }}</ref>

Local radio stations are [[BBC Radio Cumbria]], [[Smooth Lake District]], [[Greatest Hits Radio Cumbria & South West Scotland]], and Lake District Radio, a community radio station that broadcast online.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lake District Radio {{!}} Lake District Radio Broadcasting |url=https://lakedistrictradio.org/ |access-date=30 July 2024 |language=en-GB }}</ref>

Local newspapers include ''The Keswick Reminder'' and ''[[The Westmorland Gazette]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitcumbria.com/news/ |title=Local Newspapers for Cumbria and the Lake District }}</ref>

==Culture==

===Regular events===
Annual events in the town's calendar include the [[Keswick Film Festival]] (February–March). It features screenings of old and new films, interviews with directors, and the festival's [[Keswick Film Festival#Osprey Short Film Awards|Osprey Awards]] for short films by local filmmakers.<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/young-filmmakers-impress-at-keswick-film-festival-1.1036974 "Young filmmakers impress at Keswick Film Festival"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072901/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/young-filmmakers-impress-at-keswick-film-festival-1.1036974 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 21 February 2013; and [http://keswickfilmclub.org/kff/index.php "Keswick Film Festival"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006090238/http://keswickfilmclub.org/kff/index.php |date=6 October 2014 }}, Keswick Film Club, retrieved 25 June 2014</ref> The ten-day Words by the Water literary festival is held in March every year, based at the Theatre by the Lake. The festival began in 1995, and events have been presented by [[Melvyn Bragg]], [[Louis de Bernières]], [[Germaine Greer]], [[Steve Jones (biologist)|Steve Jones]], [[Penelope Lively]], [[Princess Michael of Kent]], [[Michael Rosen]] and [[Joanna Trollope]].<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/keswick-book-festival-wins-national-award-1.332999 "Keswick book festival wins national award"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006090901/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/keswick-book-festival-wins-national-award-1.332999 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 4 February 2005; [http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/words-by-the-water-in-keswick-presents-heavy-hitting-literary-ine-up-1.1038814 "Words by the water in Keswick presents heavy-hitting literary line-up"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006081525/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/words-by-the-water-in-keswick-presents-heavy-hitting-literary-ine-up-1.1038814 |date=6 October 2014 }},''The Cumberland News'', 28 February 2013; [http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/words-by-the-water-festival-s-bragging-rights-1.1119572 "Words by the Water festival's Bragging rights"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131122/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/words-by-the-water-festival-s-bragging-rights-1.1119572 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 7 March 2014; and [https://www.wayswithwords.co.uk/uploads/festivals/brochures/85.pdf Events Calendar] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903114118/https://www.wayswithwords.co.uk/uploads/festivals/brochures/85.pdf |date=3 September 2014 }}, Words by the Water, retrieved 25 June 2014</ref>
[[File:Theatre by the Lake and road down to the lake side, Keswick - geograph.org.uk - 735051.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Modern stone-faced theatre with a lake in the background|The [[Theatre by the Lake]], venue for the Words by the Water festival]]
In May each year, Keswick is host to three contrasting events. The Keswick Half Marathon, in the early part of the month takes participants around Derwentwater with an additional loop into [[Newlands Valley]].<ref name=what>[http://www.keswick.org/whats-on/whats-on-in-keswick/ "Month by Month guide to what's on"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811230313/http://www.keswick.org/whats-on/whats-on-in-keswick/ |date=11 August 2014 }}, Keswick – The Lake District, retrieved 25 June 2014</ref> In the second week of May there is the four-day Keswick Jazz Festival, with more than 100 jazz events at a dozen local venues. Participants include British and international exponents of mainstream and traditional jazz.<ref name=what/> After the Jazz Festival is the four-day Keswick Mountain Festival in mid-May. In the words of the organisers, the festival "celebrates everything we all love about the outdoors".<ref name=what/> It includes [[Ravine|ghyll]] scrambling, mountain biking, guided walks, map reading, canoeing, climbing, a triathlon and other events.<ref name=what/>

The main event of the town's calendar in June is the Keswick Beer Festival, a two-day event that attracts more than 5,000 participants each year.<ref name=what/> July is marked by the opening of the annual [[Keswick Convention]], an international gathering of [[Evangelical]] Christians, described in 1925 as "the last stronghold of British Puritanism",<ref>"Keswick Convention Growing: Puritanism's 'Last Stronghold'", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 21 July 1925, p. 18</ref> promoting biblical teaching and pious lifestyles.<ref>[http://www.keswickministries.org/about-us/who-we-are "Who We Are"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009125238/http://www.keswickministries.org/about-us/who-we-are |date=9 October 2014 }}, Keswick Ministries, retrieved 27 August 2014</ref> Among those associated with the Convention have been [[Frank Buchman]] and [[Billy Graham]].<ref>Bott, p. 135</ref> The event has grown from a single week to three weeks, straddling the latter part of July and early August.<ref name=what/>

In August, Keswick features the Derwentwater Regatta. It was inaugurated by the eccentric local landowner Joseph Pocklington in 1792,<ref>Holroyd, James Edward. "Pocklington's Island", ''The Guardian'', 23 April 1962, p. 5</ref> and after a lapse of more than two centuries was revived in 2013.<ref>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/borrowdale/things-to-see-and-do/article-1355789995156/ "King Pocky's Regatta revived on Derwent Water"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903055017/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/borrowdale/things-to-see-and-do/article-1355789995156/ |date=3 September 2014 }}, National Trust, retrieved 25 June 2014</ref> Its organisers describe it as "A weekend of mayhem and madness afloat, with the chance to climb aboard in a variety of races on Derwentwater".<ref name=what/> The Keswick Agricultural Show, founded in 1860, has traditionally been held on August Bank Holiday Monday at the western edge of the town on the Crossing Fields section of the open land known as the Howrahs.{{refn|The name dates back to the 18th century; the historian J W Kaye links it to the landowner, [[Edward Stephenson (colonial administrator)|Edward Stephenson]], who retired to his native Keswick having been an important figure in the [[East India Company]]. Stephenson was based in [[Calcutta]] of which [[Howrah]] was a suburb.<ref>Kaye, p. 345</ref>|group= n}} The show features both commercial and charity stands, and attracts large numbers of competitors, exhibitors and spectators.<ref name=what/> From 2014 the venue has changed to Pump Field, a few hundred yards further from the town centre towards Braithwaite.<ref>"Keswick Show's flying start at its new home", ''The Keswick Reminder'', 29 August 2014, p. 1</ref>

Classical music is presented throughout the year, both in conjunction with the Lake District Summer Music Festival<ref name=ogden/> and independently through the Keswick Choral Society<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3059/review-keswick-choral-society-s-christmas-concert-of-music-by-sweelink-vivaldi-vivaldi-and-popular-carols-1.909502 "Keswick Choral Society's Christmas concert of music by Sweelink, Vivaldi, Vivaldi and popular carols"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082439/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3059/review-keswick-choral-society-s-christmas-concert-of-music-by-sweelink-vivaldi-vivaldi-and-popular-carols-1.909502 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 23 December 2011</ref> and the Keswick Music Society, which was founded in 1947.<ref name=cn1/> Performers in Keswick have included the [[Chilingirian Quartet]],<ref name=ogden>Ogden, Paul. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:MENB1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=132078532EB23558&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "Hills are alive with sound of&nbsp;..."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110080330/http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004 |date=10 November 2013 }}, ''[[The Manchester Evening News]]'', 6 July 2010</ref> the [[Royal Northern Sinfonia]],<ref>[http://sagegateshead.com/event/northern-sinfonia-at-theatre-by-the-lake-keswick/ "Northern Sinfonia at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006091708/http://sagegateshead.com/event/northern-sinfonia-at-theatre-by-the-lake-keswick/ |date=6 October 2014 }}, Sage, Gateshead, retrieved 2 October 2014</ref> [[Tasmin Little]],<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/2.2837?Field_text=Keswick+Music+Society&x=0&y=0 "Keswick Music Society"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006140614/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/2.2837?Field_text=Keswick+Music+Society&x=0&y=0 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''[[CN Group|The Whitehaven News]]'', 17 April 2008</ref> the [[City of London Sinfonia]],<ref name=cn1>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/sixty-one-years-on-and-a-full-season-ahead-for-the-keswick-music-society-1.207292 "Sixty one years on and a full season ahead for the Keswick Music Society"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006140610/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/sixty-one-years-on-and-a-full-season-ahead-for-the-keswick-music-society-1.207292 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 22 July 2008</ref> [[Red Priest]]<ref name=cn1/> and [[Nicolai Demidenko]].<ref>[http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3059/fluent-tireless-nikolai-1.364208 "Fluent, tireless Nikolai"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006151036/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/features/2.3059/fluent-tireless-nikolai-1.364208 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland News'', 22 December 2006</ref>

===Lake Poets and other Keswick notables===
[[File:Greta Hall.jpg|thumb|alt=19th century drawing of substantial country house|Greta Hall, behind Greta Bridge]]
Coleridge and [[William Wordsworth]] were close friends and collaborators; when Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy took up residence in the Lake District in late 1799 it was, in Bott's word, inevitable that Coleridge would follow suit. Six months after the Wordsworths moved into [[Dove Cottage]] at [[Grasmere (village)|Grasmere]], Coleridge leased Greta Hall in Keswick, {{convert|12|mi|km|abbr=off}} away.<ref>Bott, p. 69</ref> In 1803 [[Robert Southey]], Coleridge's brother-in-law, agreed to share the house with Coleridge and his family. Southey remained at Greta Hall after Coleridge left in 1804, and it remained Southey's family home until his death in 1843.<ref>Bott, pp. 73 and 78</ref> Many famous literary figures stayed at Greta Hall in these years, including the Wordsworths, [[Charles Lamb|Charles and Mary Lamb]], [[Thomas de Quincey]], [[William Hazlitt]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]], and [[Sir Walter Scott]].<ref name=lp>Bott, pp. 73–79</ref> Lamb, a Londoner devoted to his native city, remained doubtful of the attractions of the Lake District, but most of the visitors to Greta Hall wrote eloquently of the beauty of the scenery, and further enhanced the public regard for, and desire to visit, the area.<ref name=lp/> Southey was well regarded locally, but played little part in the life of the town.<ref name=lp/> He is buried in Crosthwaite churchyard and there is a memorial to him inside the church, with an inscription written by Wordsworth.<ref>Hyde and Pevsner, p. 315</ref>

[[File:Bankes-Myers-Walpole.jpg|thumb|left|alt=3 images of middle-aged men| Prominent Keswickians: [[John Bankes|Bankes]], [[Frederic William Henry Myers|Myers]] and [[Hugh Walpole|Walpole]]]]
Among Keswick notables before the Lake Poets was [[Sir John Bankes]], a leading Royalist during the [[English Civil War]]. He was [[Charles I of England|Charles I's]] [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney General]] and [[Chief Justice]]. Bankes was born at Castlerigg near Keswick in 1589.<ref>Brooks, Christopher W, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1288 "Bankes, Sir John (1589–1644)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, January 2008, retrieved 28 August 2014 {{ODNBsub }}</ref> A bust in his memory is in upper Fitz Park close to the museum.<ref>[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM553G_Sir_John_Bankes_Keswick_Cumbria_UK "Sir John Bankes – Keswick, Cumbria, UK"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903220814/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM553G_Sir_John_Bankes_Keswick_Cumbria_UK |date=3 September 2014 }}, Waymarking, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref> In 2014 he was further commemorated by the conversion of the former Keswick courthouse into a bar named in his honour with his full title, "The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas".<ref>Findlay, Freya. [http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/opening-time-for-lake-district-s-first-wetherspoon-pub-1.1164830 "Opening time for Lake District's first Wetherspoon pub"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006165854/http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/opening-time-for-lake-district-s-first-wetherspoon-pub-1.1164830 |date=6 October 2014 }}, ''The Cumberland Times'', 27 September 2014; and "It's busy early doors as Wetherspoon pub opens", ''The Keswick Reminder'', 3 October 2014, p. 2</ref>

Later residents of the area have included the classical scholar, essayist, poet and founder of the [[Society for Psychical Research]], [[Frederic William Henry Myers|Frederic Myers]], who was born in Keswick,<ref>Gauld, Alan, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35177 "Myers, Frederic William Henry (1843–1901)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, January 2008, retrieved 28 August 2014 {{ODNBsub }}</ref> and the campaigner for animal welfare [[Donald Watson]], founder of the [[Vegan Society]], who lived in Keswick after retiring from teaching.<ref>Elliot, Rose. [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/14/guardianobituaries.food "Obituary: Donald Watson"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903152828/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jan/14/guardianobituaries.food |date=3 September 2014 }}, ''The Guardian'', 14 January 2006</ref> The pioneer mountaineers and photographers [[George and Ashley Abraham]] lived and worked in Keswick.<ref>McConnell, Anita. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/61040 "Abraham, George Dixon (1871–1965)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, retrieved 28 August 2014 {{ODNBsub }}</ref> Their photographic shop in Lake Road, built in 1887, was later taken over by the local mountaineer and outfitter George Fisher; the shop still contains memorabilia, including photographs, from the Abrahams' era.<ref>[http://www.georgefisher.co.uk/pages/about.asp "About us"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903051238/http://www.georgefisher.co.uk/pages/about.asp |date=3 September 2014 }}, George Fisher, retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>

Of literary figures after the Lake Poets, among those most closely associated with Keswick was the novelist [[Hugh Walpole]]. In 1924 he moved into Brackenburn, a house between Keswick and Grange at the opposite end of Derwentwater.<ref>Hart-Davis, p. 249</ref> Like the Lake Poets in the previous century, he wrote enthusiastically about the Lake District, and its scenery and atmosphere often found their way into his fiction. He wrote in 1939, "That I love Cumberland with all my heart and soul is another reason for my pleasure in writing these Herries books. That I wasn't born a Cumbrian isn't my fault: that Cumbrians, in spite of my 'foreignness', have been so kind to me, is my good fortune."<ref>Walpole, p. vii</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=n}}{{Notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

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* {{cite book |title=Keswick and its Neighbourhood |url=https://archive.org/details/keswickitsneighb00wind |page=[https://archive.org/details/keswickitsneighb00wind/page/16 16] |year=1852 |location=Windermere |publisher=Garnett |oclc=561275902}}
* {{cite book |last=Gradon |first=William McGowan |year=1948 |title=A History of the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway |location=Altrincham |publisher=Gradon |oclc=12138284}}
* {{cite book |last=Hart-Davis |first=Rupert |year=1997 |orig-year=1952 |title=Hugh Walpole |location=Stroud |publisher=Sutton |isbn=978-0-7509-1491-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Harper |first=Charles George |title="The Autocar" Road Book: North of England and south of Scotland |year=1913 |publisher=Methuen |location=London |oclc=780191771}}
* {{cite book |last=Hyde |first=Matthew |author2=Nikolaus Pevsner |year=2010 |title=The Buildings of England: Cumbria |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-12663-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Michael |year=1979 |title=Exploring England |location=London |publisher=Collins |oclc=6742767}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kaye |first=J. W. |year=1966 |title=Governor's House, Keswick |journal=Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society |volume=66 |pages=339–346 |location=Kendal |publisher=CWAAS |doi=10.5284/1062244 |oclc=784560247}}
* {{cite book |last=Knight |first=Charles |year=1855 |title=The English Cyclopedia: Geography |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2fk8fGpx34C&q=%22Crosthwaite+Free+Grammar+School%22&pg=PT26 |publisher=Bradbury and Evans |oclc=14210888}}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=James |title=Digest of the English Census of 1871 |url=https://archive.org/details/digestenglishce00britgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/digestenglishce00britgoog/page/n185 161] |year=1873 |location=London |publisher=Stanford |oclc=6796389}}
* {{cite book |last=Lindopp |first=Grevel |year=1993 |title=A Literary Guide to the Lake District |location=London |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=978-0-7011-3615-4}}
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* {{cite book |last=Rice |first=H A L |year=1974 |title=Lake Country Towns |location=London |publisher=Robert Hale |isbn=978-0-7091-4450-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Thirsk |first=Joan |title=Agrarian History of England and Wales: 1640–1750 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QQ9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA7 |date=1985 |publisher=CUP Archive |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-20076-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Walpole |first=Hugh |year=1939 |title=The Herries Chronicle – Rogue Herries, Judith Paris, The Fortress, Vanessa |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |oclc=1912099}}
* {{cite book |last=Western |first=Robert |year=2001 |title=The Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway |location=Usk |publisher=Oakwood Press |isbn=978-0-85361-564-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Whaley |first=Diana |title=A Dictionary of Lake District Place-names |location=Nottingham |publisher=English Place-Name Society |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-904889-72-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Whellan |first=William |title=The History and Topography of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland: With Furness and Cartmel, in Lancashire, Comprising Their Ancient and Modern History, a General View of Their Physical Character, Trade, Commerce, Manufactures, Agricultural Condition, Statistics |url=https://archive.org/details/historytopograph00whel |page=[https://archive.org/details/historytopograph00whel/page/339 339] |year=1860 |location=London |publisher=Whittaker |oclc=6480778}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=Brian |year=2010 |title=A Safe Haven – Evacuees in Keswick, 1939–1945 |location=Carlisle |publisher=Bookcase |isbn=978-1-904147-56-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Tom |author2=revised by J W Kaye |year=1970 |orig-year=1939 |title=History of Crosthwaite Parish Church |location=Keswick |publisher=McKane |oclc=500098767}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{portal|Cumbria}}
{{Wikivoyage inline}}
* [http://keswicktowncouncil.gov.uk Keswick Town Council]
* [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/keswick Cumbria County History Trust: Keswick] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
* [https://keswick.net/ Keswick web cam]
* [https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/allerdale/keswick-leisure-pool Keswick Leisure Pool]

{{Cumbria}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Keswick, Cumbria| ]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Market towns in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Towns in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Cumberland (unitary authority)]]