| Kirkby Lonsdale | |
|---|---|
| Town and civil parish | |
 Ruskin's View | |
  Kirkby Lonsdale Location in the former South Lakeland district Show map of the former South Lakeland district | |
| Population | 1,843 (2011 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SD6178 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | CARNFORTH |
| Postcode district | LA6 |
| Dialling code | 015242 |
| Police | Cumbria |
| Fire | Cumbria |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| 54°12′04″N2°35′49″W / 54.201°N 2.597°W /54.201; -2.597 | |
Kirkby Lonsdale (/ˈkɜːrbiˈlɒnzdeɪl/) is a town andcivil parish in theWestmorland and Furness district ofCumbria, England, on theRiver Lune.Historically inWestmorland, it lies 13 miles (21 km) south-east ofKendal on theA65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in the2001 census,[2] increasing to 1,843 at the 2011 Census.[1]
Notable buildings includeSt Mary's Church, aNorman building with fine carved columns. The view of the River Lune from the churchyard is known as Ruskin's View afterJohn Ruskin, who called it one of the loveliest in England. It was painted byJ. M. W. Turner.
Kirkby Lonsdale is in theMorecambe and Lunesdale parliamentary constituency;[3]Lizzi Collinge of theLabour Party was elected as itsMember of Parliament at the2024 general election.[4]
In local government the town is withinWestmorland and Furness. Until 2023 it was in the Kirkby Lonsdaleward ofSouth Lakeland District Council and the Sedbergh & Kirkby Lonsdale Division ofCumbria County Council. It has aparish council, Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council.[5]
Early signs of occupation include aNeolithic stone circle on Casterton Fell and remains of Celtic settlements atBarbon,Middleton andHutton Roof.
During the Roman period, aRoman road followed theRiver Lune, linking forts at Low Borrow Bridge nearTebay andOver Burrow, south of Kirkby Lonsdale. ARoman milestone unearthed in 1836 and described as "the best in the country" was re-erected on a hill near Hawkin Hall (SD 623 859), close to where it was found.
Kirkby Lonsdale developed at a crossing over the River Lune, where drovers' and pack-horse routes converged. It is one of few Cumbrian towns mentioned in the 1086Domesday Book, where it is called Cherchibi (village with a church). An earlier church was rebuilt by theNormans, who erected an artificial mound ormotte on nearbyglebe land. A wooden tower or keep is thought to have surmounted the stronghold as a base for controlling the surrounding area.
In later years, the mound was used forcockfighting, hence the current name of Cockpit Hill. In 1093, Ivo de Taillebois (Baron of Kendal) granted thechurch at Kirkby Lonsdale to St Mary's Abbey in York, which held it until theDissolution. Thereafter the abbey and its possessions, including St Mary's Church, passed toTrinity College, Cambridge, which retains thepatronage to this day.
In 1227, the town gained amarket charter and the right to hold an annual fair every September. Each week stallholders gathered in Market Street to sell their wares, as did horse traders in the Horsemarket and pig sellers in Swinemarket. Thursday was as now the scene of great activity. Kirkby has an annual festival called the Victorian Fair.[6]
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The weekly market and daily throughput of drovers and pack-horse carriers created a bustling town, with a total of 29 inns and alehouses, of which eight remain. By the early 19th century, the old market area was becoming too congested and a new market place was built in 1822.
The steep incline of Mill Brow with its fast-flowing, now culverted stream was the industrial heart of Kirkby Lonsdale, with several mills using water power for grinding corn, bark and bone, carding wool, manufacturing snuff, making bobbins andfulling cloth, and sawing timber.
TheKeighley and Kendal Turnpike of 1753 passed through Kirkby Lonsdale and met there with a turnpike fromMilnthorpe on the coast. In 1818, the two trusts were amalgamated.[7]Kirkby Lonsdale railway station, 2 miles (3 km) away inLancashire, opened in 1861 and closed to passengers in 1954.
Today Kirkby Lonsdale remains a busy town with a market. The centre has a mixture of elegant 18th-century buildings and stone cottages huddled round cobbled courtyards and narrow alleyways, with names such as Salt Pie Lane and Jingling Lane.
St Mary's Church is an activeAnglican parish church in the deanery of Kendal, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and thediocese of Carlisle. Itsbenefice is united with those of six local churches to form the Kirkby Lonsdale Team Ministry.[8] It containsNorman architecture and is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade Ilisted building.[9]
Kirkby Lonsdale'sQueen Elizabeth School on Biggins Road is a secondary school specialising in the performing arts, sports and languages.[10]
A two-dayVictorian fair used to be hosted in the town each September.[when?] The streets were closed to traffic and filled with traders' stalls, craft demonstrations and entertainment, while visitors were encouraged to wear Victorian dress.
Motorbike enthusiasts meet every Sunday at Devil's Bridge.
The town is noted for the Devil's Bridge (54°11′56″N2°35′24″W / 54.199°N 2.590°W /54.199; -2.590), which at one time carried the Skipton to Kendal road over the River Lune. It dates from around 1370 and is built of finegritstoneashlar. Of its three spans, the western two measure 54.75 feet (16.69 m) each and the eastern one 29 feet (8.8 m), or 45 feet (14 m) from river to parapet. The piers are hexagonal, 60 feet (18 m) round and extending upwards to provide pedestrian refuges. At the eastern end is a sundial in the form of a square block on an octagonal column.[11] The bridge was probably built by monks ofSt Mary's Abbey, York.
Like manybridges of the same name, it features a legend that theDevil appeared to an old woman, promising to build a bridge in exchange for the first soul to cross over it. When the bridge was finished, the woman threw bread over the bridge and her dog chased after it, thereby outwitting the Devil. Several large stones in the surrounding area, including theGreat Stone of Fourstones, are ascribed to theDevil's purse strings bursting open as he ferried masonry to build it. It was repaired in 1705 and repointed in 1829 using Roman-style cement. The eastern arch was repaired in about 1869.
The roadway on the bridge is only 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, insufficient for modern traffic. As numbers increased the bridge was closed to vehicles in 1932.[12] Traffic instead crosses the river by the Stanley Bridge, 490 feet (150 m) to the south, which was built in the 1930s. Devil's Bridge is a Grade I listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[11]
The river beneath Devil's Bridge is popular withscuba divers for its relatively easy access and egress, deep rock pools (about 16 ft in a low swell) and good visibility. The bridge also witnesses illegal "tombstoning" (bridge diving), which has caused at least one death, of a 22-year-old man in 2012.[13]
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