Kirkby Thore is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, England (), in the historic county of Westmorland. It is close to the Lake District

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

and the Cumbrian

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commonly ...

. It includes the areas of Bridge End, in the southwest by the A66, and Cross End in the northeast of the village. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 731, increasing to 758 at the 2011 Census. The market town of

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby was the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

is about away, and the larger town of Penrith is about away.

History

The place-name 'Kirkby Thore' is first attested in 1179 in the 'Register of Holm Cultram', where it appears as ''Kirkebythore''. ''Kirkby'' means 'church village' or 'village with a church', whilst ''Thore'' is an

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

personal name related to the god

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...

. The village is on the site of a Roman cavalry camp called Bravoniacum or ''Brovonacae'' and Roman coins, tombstones, sandals, urns, earthen vessels, and the cusp of a spear have been found in the locality. Since the time of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succe ...

's campaigns between 208 and 211 CE, a division of Numidian auxiliary light cavalry garrisoned the fort of Bravoniacum, constituting the first African community in Britain. The Maiden Way

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

led north from Bravoniacum to the fort of Epiacum ( Whitley Castle) near Alston, and thence to Magnae ( Carvoran) on Hadrian's Wall, where it joined the

Stanegate The Stanegate (meaning "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect) was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked many forts including two that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Tyn ...

road running from west to east. A possible continuation from there ran east to Banna ( Birdoswald) and then north to the Shrine of Cocidius (

Bewcastle Bewcastle is a large civil parish in the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. It is in the historic county of Cumberland. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 411, reducing to 391 at the 2011 Census. The parish ...

). It was reported in 2016 that

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

technology has revealed another Roman road running southwest from Kirkby Thore to the Roman fort at Low Borrowbridge near Tebay. The Anglican church of St Michael in Kirkby Thore is built of red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and dates from Norman times. The village also had a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

chapel. The village is also home to Kirkby Thore Hall, a Grade II* medieval Manor House of particular structural interest. KirkbyThoreGypsumPlant(SimonLedingham)May2005

KirkbyThoreGypsumPlant(SimonLedingham)May2005

Gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and dr ...

has been quarried or mined in the area for over 200 years. The local British Gypsum Ltd plant has produced

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "r ...

since 1910 and

plasterboard Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thic ...

since the 1960s. Currently it is more economic to use

desulpho-gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

transported by rail from Drax Power Station than to mine it locally but this depends on Drax continuing. British Gypsum has a private siding on the Settle-Carlisle Railway which passes to the north of the village. There are a number of farms in the village and surrounding area. Some are large dairy farms, others beef and/or sheep with some arable crops.

Governance

Kirkby Thore is in the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

Penrith and the Border Penrith and The Border is a constituency in Cumbria represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Neil Hudson, a Conservative. History Penrith and The Border was first contested in 1950 since which it has to date been g ...

. Neil Hudson was elected its Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

at the 2019 General Election, replacing

Rory Stewart Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, diplomat, author, broadcaster, former soldier and former politician. He is the president of GiveDirectly, a visiting fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for ...

. Before

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

, it was in the

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

European Parliamentary Constituency. In the past the village has either been part of the constituency of Appleby or the constituency of Westmorland. An Appleby electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward stretches west to Mallerstang with a total population of 1,563.

Transport and facilities

The busy

A66 road The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. Route From its eastern ...

runs through the western edge of the village. This will be one of the last sections of the A66 to be upgraded to

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

; in 2006 the

Highways Agency National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

conducted public consultation on the route for a bypass (which will connect the existing Appleby bypass to the east and the

Temple Sowerby Temple Sowerby is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, northern England. It is close to the main east–west A66 road about east of Penrith in the Eden Valley. At the 2011 census Temple Sowerby was grouped with Newbiggin giving a total po ...

bypass (opened in part October 2007, ahead of schedule) to the west. The public consultation fell by the wayside and dualling of the A66 at Kirkby Thore is still an aspiration. The village contains a village shop with

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, a

filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasol ...

(and shop) and a

bistro A bistro or bistrot , is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant, serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. French home-style cooking, and slow-cooked food ...

serving meals.

Notable people

Sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s Helen Skelton and

Gavin Skelton Gavin Richard Skelton (born 27 March 1981) is an English football coach, manager, and former professional footballer. As a player, he was primarily deployed as a defensive midfielder. He is the first-team coach of Carlisle United. Skelton's pla ...

grew up in a farm near the village and attended Kirkby Thore Primary School before transferring to Appleby Grammar School. Helen is now a television presenter, best known for working on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' and ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker ...

'', whilst Gavin is a professional footballer who has played in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

with Gretna, Kilmarnock and Hamilton Academicals. During 2016 he was player-manager of Queen of the South in Dumfries. He was appointed assistant manager of

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

in June 2019.

References

External links