The name of Dunkeswick comes from the Old English words cēse ('cheese') and wīc ('dwelling, specialised farm'), and thus once meant 'farm specialising in cheese production'. The fact that keswick begins with [k] rather than the [tʃ] sound of cheese, however, reflects the influence of Old Norse pronunciation on the local language. The additional element Dun seems to have been added to distinguish the settlement from other places called Keswick, such as the nearby East Keswick.[1]: 42
History
The war memorial from Dunkeswick Methodist Chapel was housed in Harewood Methodist Chapel after the closure of Dunkeswick chapel.[2][3] Harewood Methodist Chapel has since closed.
Dunkewsick Moor is noted as the site of the Knight Air Flight 816 crash in 1995. On 24 May 1995, this scheduled flight from Leeds Bradford Airport to Aberdeen crashed shortly after takeoff, with the loss of all 12 passengers and crew on board.[4]
Dunkeswick was formerly a township in the parish of Harewood.[5] In 1866, Dunkeswick became a separate civil parish, but on 1 April 1937 the parish was abolished and merged with Harewood.[6] In 1931 the parish had a population of 136.[7] From 1974 to 2023 it was in Harrogate district.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dunkeswick.
^Harry Parkin, Your City's Place-Names: Leeds, English Place-Name Society City-Names Series, 3 (Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, 2017).