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Hesket Newmarket

Hesket Newmarket is a pretty eighteenth century village build around a long narrow village green, situated at the northern end of the Caldbeck Fells. The village feels very isolated if you approach from the south, but is actually quite close to Caldbeck, while the main road between Cockermouth and Carlisle is just over six miles away to the north-west. South of the village the land risings consistently upwards towards the summit of High Pike in the Caldbeck Fells.

Hesket NewmarketOne of the oldest buildings in the village is Hesket Hall, at the western end of the main street. This seventeenth century building is built in the form of a cross, with a square main block and four small wings, one on each wall. The central block has a pyramid shaped roof, with a large central chimney. The building is said to have been designed as a sundial, with the twelve corners providing the hours. It was built for Sir Wilfred Lawson, some time after 1630.

The village underwent a sizable expansion during the eighteenth century, when it was granted a market charter and changed from Hesket to Hesket Newmarket. This was the period that saw the creation of the long open village green, which slopes down from the hall end, past the church and towards the River Caldew, just beyond the eastern end of the village. The covered market cross and many of the nearby buildings were built during this period. The shape of the green, which originally held the market, and the arrangement of houses, was carefully controlled, giving each building a certain amount of frontage onto the market.

The village is now the home of the Hesket Newmarket Brewery (open most days but not Sundays) and the Old Crown Pub. There is a car park at the eastern edge of the village.

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