Moot Hall
This imposing building houses the National Park's Keswick Information Centre. The present Moot Hall date s from 1813, but there was a building on the site long before the beginning of the 19th century.
Plan Around Moot Hall
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Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.
Moot Hall Details
The Moot Hall has several enigmatic features, as well as being the focal-point of the town and a Grade II listed building. Tradition has it that that the bell in the tower came from the manor house on Lord's Island, together with the weathercock and stones for rebuilding in the 17th century. The bars on the ground-floor windows and a small "cell" below the tower suggest that the place was possibly used as a prison at some time. The one-handed turret clock in the tower is dated 1814. It was restored a few years ago so as to keep marking the hours. In February 1572 Keswick was at the centre of the area's copper mining industry. The copper collector appointed by Queen Elizabeth I needed a base to carry out his duties and settled on the building in the Market Square. The history of the Moot Hall is one of ruin and rebuilding. It wasn't everybody's favourite building. William Hutchinson, writing in the 1790s, condemned it as a piece of uncouth architecture. Not that he thought much of Keswick; he found it a place of low and meanly built houses with "the best part of the town obstructed by a gloomy and ugly shambles and a town house". The present Moot Hall, dated 1813, was erected at a cost of nearly 1,200 pounds by trustees of the Royal Greenwich Hospital. Records show that in the 1820s the lower floor was used as a market for meal, butter, eggs and poultry. Upstairs, the Moot Hall continued its traditional function as a court house. Here the Lords of the Manor, the governors of Greenwich Hospital, considered claims and arguments over land and tenure. By 1840, the hall housed Flintoft's Model, still on show at the Fitz Park Museum. Constructed in 1837 on a scale of three inches to the mile, this relief map measuring 12 feet by nine feet showed all the main features of the Lake District. Grid Reference: NY 26632 23437 Address (near): Moot Hall, Market Square, Keswick CA12 5JR, UK
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Nearby Parks Around Moot Hall
Compare nearby parks around Moot Hall when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Moot Hall
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Moot Hall while the map context is still fresh.
0.0 mi away
Keswick Information Centre
Open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
0.3 mi away
Pencil Museum
Keswick's Pencil Museum is the home of the biggest colouring pencil in the world. It 7.91 metres (26 ft) long, and weighs 446.36 kilograms (984.1 lb).
0.4 mi away
Theatre on the Lake
The theatre, hailed as "the most beautifully located and friendly theatre in Britain", is a short stroll from Derwentwater on the edge of Keswick, amid the magnificent western fells of the Lake District.
0.4 mi away
Derwent Water
Just south of Keswick, Derwent Water is one of the park's most popular destinations.
0.5 mi away
Derwentwater Way
A scenic 10 mile waymarked walk around Derwentwater, Queen of the Lakes.
