Cumberland Pencil Museum

The Cumberland Pencil Museum

The Cumberland Pencil Museum
Location Southey Works, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5NG
Coordinates 56°36′17″N 3°08′31″W / 56.6046°N 3.1419°W
Visitors 80,000
Owner The Cumberland Pencil Company
Website www.pencilmuseum.co.uk

The Cumberland Pencil Museum is in Keswick, Cumbria, in the north-west of England. It is home to the biggest colouring pencil in the world, the idea of technical manager Barbara Murray. It was completed on 28 May 2001, is 7.91 metres (26 ft) long, and weighs 446.36 kilograms (984.1 lb). [1]

The first pencil factory in Keswick opened in 1832. The second and current factory was started in the 1920s and completed in 1950. The museum opened in 1981, and now receives over 80,000 visitors a year from all around the world.

It is particularly popular with visitors from the county of Yorkshire, due to the importance of pencil production for the local economy during the 1930s. It has been frequented recently by local 'stars', such as singer and lyricist John Bennett.

See also

References

  1. "The UK's oddest days out". BBC News Magazine. 15 September 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 54°36′17″N 3°08′31″W / 54.6046°N 3.1419°W