Church of St Kentigern is a Grade I listed building in the Lake District National Park local planning authority area, England. First listed on 11 April 1967. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Kentigern
- WRENN ID
- endless-crypt-reed
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Lake District National Park
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway MP: Markus Campbell-Savours (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 11 April 1967
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Kentigern, Caldbeck, Cumberland
- OS grid reference
- NY 325 398
- Coordinates
- 54.74948, -3.04949
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Kentigern is a parish church located in Caldbeck, with origins dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. It has undergone alterations in 1512 and 1727, as well as restorations in 1880 by C.J. Ferguson and in 1932 by J.F. Martindale. The church is constructed from large blocks of mixed sandstone, while the tower is made of limestone with flush sandstone quoins. It features a graduated greenslate roof with coped gables and a cross finial.
The building includes a three-storey square west tower, a six-bay nave with north and south aisles, a south porch, and a two-bay chancel with a south vestry. The medieval tower has a small round-arched window up to the string course, and the upper storey, marked by an internal inscription stating "THIS STEEPLE WAS BUILDED IN THE YEAR 1727," has louvred round-arched openings beneath a battlemented parapet. The aisles contain 1932 windows with trefoil heads under hoodmoulds, inspired by an original window in the east wall of the south aisle. The clerestory windows are also from 1932.
The porch features a reused Norman arch with beakhead carving at the front and zigzag patterns behind. The chancel has two original lancet windows and a lower squint, while the five-light east window bears a weathered inscription commemorating John Whelpdale, who rebuilt the chancel in 1512. The south wall includes a four-light window above an early 16th-century chantry chapel, now serving as a vestry.
Inside, the tower contains a broad newel staircase, and the first-floor opening into the nave features Norman zigzag arch stones that were relocated there in 1932. The porch has a medieval graveslab attached to the wall and a recess for a holy-water stoup. The nave showcases six-bay arcades with round and hexagonal columns, which do not perfectly align with the pointed arches. A 14th-century hexagonal font is located in the baptistry, and a 13th-century piscina is found in the south wall of the aisle. The west end displays the Royal Arms of George IV and painted wall text from 1731, while the open timber ceiling is from 1932. The high openings in the east wall of the nave are original, and the chancel features a timber roof from 1880. The east window was created by Wailes in 1867, and there is a 13th-century graveslab of Thomas de Bray. A blocked priest's door is present in the south wall.
Local climate
Church of St Kentigern sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,270 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 60 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 98% of listed buildings. Of these, 35 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- Sale history — 6 transactions since 1999
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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