Kirkoswald, Cumbria
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The village and former market town of Kirkoswald lies in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria or Cumberland situated about 9 miles from Penrith. The village is usually referred to locally as KO.
The village is a small place consisting mainly of one main street rising up a steep hill centered on a market place which the village's two pubs are on the fringes of. Another pub The Black Bull overlooked the square but this closed in the 1980s or 1990s.
The village's name means Church of St Oswald and indeed the parish church is dedicated to Saint Oswald, King of Northumbria. The church lies on the southern edge of the village overlooking the River Eden close to the bridge which connects Kirkoswald to Lazonby. Unusually the church has no bell tower and a separate tower or belfry is located on top of the hill behind the church itself.
Just to the east of the bell tower hill lies the ruins of Kirkoswald Castle.
The village has one shop which is also the postoffice, methodist church and a well-attended primary school. But until quite recently there were further shops including a butchers and a branch of the Midland Bank.
The village ceased to be a working market town in the nineteenth century this was probably partly due to the Settle to Carlisle Railway Line bypassing Kirkoswald and going through nearby Lazonby which is now a far larger settlement with its own livestock auction market.
For local government purposes Kirkoswald is within the civil parish of Kirkoswald and Renwick which is part of the Eden District of Cumbria.
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