Keswick (pronounced KEZZ-ick) is a market town in the Lake District National Park, in northern England. The town is situated just north of Derwent Water, one of the Lake District's most picturesque lakes, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake. It is on the A66 road linking Workington and Penrith, as well as the A591 road, linking it to Windermere, Kendal and to Carlisle (via the A595 road). It 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 and the world's largest pencil.

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 and facilities for the tens of thousands of people visiting the area each year. The Keswick Tourism Association publishes an annual guide to the area, including details of annually inspected and approved visitor accommodation. This information is also available on the KTA website. [1]

Many visitors to Keswick come for the town's annual film festival that in 2006 attracted almost 3,000 paying customers. Keswick is also host to an annual beer festival which takes place on Keswick Rugby Club field and an annual Jazz Festival. In May 2007 Keswick will host a Mountain Festival.[2]

It is administered by Keswick Town Council and Allerdale Borough Council. Though previous to 1974 the town had been an urban district in its own right and was entirely surrounded by the Cockermouth Rural District.

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.

In the Christian sphere Keswick is also the home to Castlerigg Manor, a leading Catholic residential youth centre. The centre is in the Manor house from which much of the local land was owned in the 19th century.

The town is home to the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum, a motor vehicle museum featuring celebrity cars from television and film, and Keswick Museum and Art Gallery; a Victorian museum which features the famous Musical Stones of Skiddaw.

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 [3].

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.