A volunteer project has taken the first step towards compiling the history of Cumbria with the publication of a new book ‘The Victoria History of Cumberland: Kirkoswald and Renwick’.
Did you know?
- Kirkoswald had a thriving medieval market
- Kirkoswald castle was once home to the powerful Dacre family
- St Oswald’s church is a pre-Conquest foundation, dedicated to a 7th century King of Northumbria
Kirkoswald and Renwick is the first parish history to be produced by the Victoria County History of Cumbria (VCH) project.
The book’s author, retired lawyer Richard Brockington, who lived in Renwick for several years, is one of several enthusiastic volunteer researchers who are helping the VCH Cumbria project reach its goal of writing the history of all 348 civil parishes in Cumbria.
Mr Brockington said: “It has given me great pleasure for several years to have worked towards the publication of the Kirkoswald and Renwick book.
“I could not have done it alone, and the result is an achievement of many historians in this county and of the people of Kirkoswald and Renwick who have helped me in many ways.
“Every village in Cumbria has a rich and interesting history and I hope that this will be the first of many such publications in the years to come.”
Founded in 1899 as a national publishing project, the VCH has the ambitious aim of writing an encyclopaedic history of every place in England, from the earliest times to the present day. This makes VCH volumes an invaluable resource for historians.
Cumberland was one of the first counties where research began.
But, despite the publication of two general volumes in 1901 and 1905, no further work was done on the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland until 2010, when the VCH was revived by the Cumbria County History Trust as a volunteer project, under the guidance of academics at Lancaster University.
This means Kirkoswald and Renwick is the first VCH book for the county in 114 years!
This achievement was celebrated at a launch event in Kirkoswald on 21st May by more than 80 guests, many of them members of the local community who had contributed information for the book.
