Keswick, Cumbria
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Moot_Hall,_Keswick.jpg
Keswick (pronounced KEZZ-ick) is a market town in Cumbria, England, and inside the Lake District National Park, just north of Derwent Water, one of the Lake District's most picturesque lakes. It is on the A66 road linking Workington and Penrith, and has a population of about 5,000 (500 more than in 1901).
The town is recorded in the 13th century as Cese-wic, indicating that it acted as a market for cheese. During the 16th century, small scale mining took place here, and it was the source of the world's first graphite pencils. The pencil industry remains today, including the Cumberland Pencil Museum.
Keswick was granted a charter to be a market town in 1276 by Edward I, the market is held every Saturday in the pedestrianised main street in the middle of the town. The marketplace features the interesting Moot Hall which used to act as the town hall but is now the local tourist information office.
Today, the majority of Keswick's businesses are tourism related, providing accommodation (http://www.keswick.org) and facilities for the tens of thousands of people visiting the area each year.
It is administered by Keswick Town Council and Allerdale Borough Council.
It is also known for an annual Christian Convention (called the Keswick Convention) that has been running since 1875 and now covers three weeks towards the end of summer.
The town used to be linked to Cockermouth and Penrith via the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway which closed in 1972. There is a project to reopen the railway see: http://www.ckp-railways.co.uk
Samuel Taylor Coleridge settled here with his family in 1800 and visited/collaborated with William Wordsworth in nearby Grasmere by frequently walking back and forth between the towns.
Keswick was the first place in Great Britain where police used riot gear. The equipment was on trial in Manchester when there was a disturbance on the council estate in Keswick, in which a police car was turned over. Help was summoned, and the Manchester police force arrived in full riot gear, thus giving Keswick this footnote in police history.
On January 11, 2005, Keswick was granted Fairtrade Town status.