A delightful self-catering holiday cottage near Keswick

Old Saddler's Cottage

Ireby                 Keswick

Ireby and its history

Ireby is an unspoilt, peaceful fell village, which   lies 550 feet above sea level in an area known as 'the back of Skiddaw". Skiddaw Peak and the Skiddaw Forest lie between Ireby and Keswick. The peaks of Great Calva and Knott look down on the village of Ireby, which is now a delightfully quiet and restful place, although there was a time in its history when it was a busy market town. The nearby Aughertree Fell was the site of a Bronze Age farm and the remains of a pre-Roman road are still in evidence.

In 1237 Ireby received its market charter and developed into a thriving  sheep market. Four small roads meet in the centre of the village,   where a moot hall and butter cross suggest something of the village's former high profile in this part of England.  In 1726 Ireby School was founded to educate eight poor children from the parish. At one time there were four pubs in the village.

The Sun public house was one of John Peel's favourite haunts. The Tun Inn had a reputation for regional dancing, which included the Ninepins Reel and the Cumberland Square Eight. These dances were mistaken by  John Keats for Scottish dances when he visited  Ireby on a walking holiday. He liked the village and    people, and made favorable comments about them in his writing.

Just north of the village lies the 12^th century Ireby Old Church.  All  that remains of the original church is the chancel; stones from the nave were used to build the new Gothic style church of St James, in 1846.

Ireby is now a peaceful country village, surrounded by natural beauty, and is an ideal starting point from which to discover northern Cumbria.