| Static Image Name: | Belltower, Kirkoswald.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | The belltower, built on the hill above the church so that villagers could hear the bells |
| Country: | England |
| Region: | North West England |
| Official Name: | Kirkoswald |
| Type: | Village and parish |
| Os Grid Reference: | NY5541 |
| Coordinates: | 54.7652°N -2.6937°W |
| Population: | 901 |
| Population Ref: | (2011) |
| Civil Parish: | Kirkoswald |
| Constituency Westminster: | Penrith and The Border |
| Post Town: | PENRITH |
| Postcode Area: | CA |
| Postcode District: | CA10 |
| Dial Code: | 01768 |
| Pushpin Map: | United Kingdom Eden |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the former Eden District |
| Unitary England: | Westmorland and Furness |
| Lieutenancy England: | Cumbria |
Kirkoswald is a village, civil parish, and former market town located in Westmorland and Furness, England, about 9miles from Penrith. The village is in the historic county of Cumberland. The village, referred to colloquially as KO, had a population of 870 at the 2001 census, which rose to 901 at the 2011 Census.
The village name means "Church of St Oswald", the parish church being dedicated to Saint Oswald, King of Northumbria. The body of Oswald is believed to have been taken through the village. The church lies on the southern edge of the village overlooking the River Eden, close to the bridge connecting Kirkoswald to Lazonby. St Oswald's Church is unique in having a 19th-century bell tower on top of a hill 200 yards from the church itself. Parts of the church date from the 12th century, the chancel being added in 1523, when the "College" was founded by Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre and his wife.[1] A sacred spring lies under the nave of the church, and a well is found on the west wall.[2]
In 1808 a hoard of perhaps 543 Northumbrian copper alloy stycas and a silver trefoil ornament was found amongst an uprooted tree in the parish.[3]
One of Kirkoswald's most splendid buildings is the College, its name recalling the days when St Oswald's Church was a collegiate church. Originally built in 1450 as a Pele Tower it became, after dissolution in 1547, home to the Fetherstonhaugh family, which previously lived at Featherstone Castle, Northumberland.
The village has one main street rising up a steep hill passing through a former market place with its two pubs – the Crown Inn and the Fetherston Arms. A third pub, the Black Bull, which at one time won awards for its food, overlooked the square, but this closed in the early 1990s. It also has a shop that houses a post office, a Methodist church and a well-attended primary school. Until recently there were further shops, including a butcher and a branch of the Midland Bank.
Given its market charter in the 13th century,[2] the village held a market before it was moved to Lazonby and Kirkoswald railway station[4] after the opening of the Settle to Carlisle Railway Line in 1876.[5]
Kirkoswald is in Westmorland and Furness. Before 2023 it was in the Eden district of Cumbria. Included in the parish are the nearby village of Renwick and the hamlets of Staffield, High Bankhill, Parkhead and Scales. From 1866 to 1934 Staffield was a separate civil parish. Renwick was also a separate parish until 1934. The parish council meets at the village hall in Kirkoswald's former market square.
An electoral ward in the same name stretches north to Ainstable, with a total population at the 2011 census of 1,471.[6]