KIRKBY-LONSDALE, a parish in LONSDALE ward, county of WESTMORLAND, comprising the market-town of Kirkby-Lonsdale, with the chapelries of Barbon, Firbank, Hutton-Roof, Killington, Mansergh, and Middleton, and the townships of Casterton. and Lupton, and containing 3769 inhabitants, of which number, 1643 are in the town of Kirkby-Lonsdale, 30 miles (S. by W.) from Appleby, and 252 (N.W. by W.) from London, on the great road from Kendal to Leeds. The name of this place is derived from its having been the chief town of the district which had a church, and the adjunct from its situation in a dale, or valley, on the western bank of the river Lon, or Lune. The town is one of the largest in the county, and consists of several handsome streets, which .are lighted, but not paved; the three principal ones meeting nearly in the centre, where is the market-place: the houses are well built of white hewn stone, and roofed with blue slate; many of them have fine gardens attached: the inhabitants are supplied with water from a spring at Totley wood, one mile distant, by means of pipes, under the direction of a joint stock company. The surrounding scenery is highly picturesque, to which the distant mountains, particularly Ingleborough, the loftiest of them, give a grandeur of effect rarely excelled: the peculiar beauty of the valley of Lonsdale, and the eligible society of the neighbourhood, have rendered the town a favourite residence. A book society, -supported by subscription, was founded in 1794, to which a small permanent library belongs. The manufacture of knit stockings, for which this place was formerly famous, has greatly declined; and the weaving of carpets, blankets, coarse linen, calicoe, and gingham, is now carried on to a small extent. Several mills, built on the steep banks of the hills, are worked by the Lune, which here turns machinery consisting of seven wheels placed almost perpendicularly under each other, by which two threshing and grinding-mills, a wool-carding mill, and two tanneries, are kept in action. This river, which winds round the town, is crossed by a lofty stone bridge of exquisite workmanship and great antiquity: it is founded on a rock, and consists of three semicircular ribbed arches, the centre arch being much higher than the others; the road-way is inconveniently narrow. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held on Holy Thursday, and October 5th and 6th, for horned cattle and horses, and on St. Thomas's day for woollen cloth. The new market-place, formed in 1822, is a spacious quadrangle; in the fish market is an ancient market cross. A court leet and view of frankpledge for the manor are held annually in October; and petty sessions for the Lonsdale ward are held every Thursday. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, rated in the king-'s books at £20. 15. 2., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a noble structure of great antiquity, with a square tower nearly seventy feet in height, which was rebuilt in 1705; the interior is divided into four great aisles, by three rows of pillars which support the roof: the arched doorway under the tower is evidently of Norman architecture, the bases of some of the pillars, and the shafts of others, are also Norman, and the east window, with light detached pillars, is in the early style of English architecture; the pulpit, which is curiously carved, was erected, in 1619, at the expense of Mr. Henry Wilson, who also founded a library attached to the church, and bequeathed various sums for charitable uses. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Glassites, or Sandemanians The free grammar school was founded, in 1591, by letters patent of Queen Elizabeth, and endowed by Mr. Godshalfe and others; it is under the direction of twenty-four governors, and, by means of several subsequent benefactions, the endowment has been augmented, and produces about £50 per annum, which is received by the master, who has a house for his residence, and instructs in Greek and Latin about forty boys, who pay for being taxight writing and arithmetic, besides which he is allowed totake stipendiary pupils: the school has the benefit of four exhibitions, of £5 per annum each, to Queen's College, Oxford, founded by Henry Wilson, in 1638; three, of about £20 each, to Christ's College, Cambridge, on the foundation of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, in 1626; and three at the same college/foundedby Dr. Thomas Otway, Bishop of Ossory, who died in 1692. At Sellet Bank, about a mile and a half from the town, is a chalybeate spring; and, according to tradition, an artificial mount in the neighbourhood, called " Cock Pit Hill," is the tumulus of one of the British kings. Lonsdale gives the title of earl to the family of Lowther.