It is dedicated to St Kentigern, the apostle of Strathclyde, whom it is believed passed by and preached at the Holy well, on his way into exile in Wales, in the 6th century.

[2] After the Norman Conquest the church was given by the first Lord of Allerdale to the prior and convent of Carlisle, which grant was confirmed by Henry II, and Edward III.

Records relating to the old Norman church are sparse, although in 1703 Bishop William Nicolson left a full written description.

[3] When Sir Walter Scott visited Aspatria in the early part of the 19th century he included two engravings of the Norman arches in his Border Antiquities of 1814.

The foundation stone was laid on 23 July 1846, with full Masonic ceremonial; and consecrated by the Bishop of Carlisle on 6 June 1848.

It consists of a nave, side aisles, chapel, chancel, south facing porch, vestry, and western tower, surmounted with parapets and pinnacles.

[5] The designers reconstructed the Norman doorway which they used as the entrance to the vestry, placing another in the base of the tower.

In the west end of the church, between the vestry and the tower they retained the old chancel arch, which is a fine example of what is called a dog-tooth type of decoration.

There are fine well executed stained glass windows, containing the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension with sacred devices and monograms.

A year Later, Mrs Powell, the widow of an earlier vicar, paid £120 for a clock to be placed in the tower, as a memorial to her late husband.

There is also a modern set of Newcastle silver plate, consisting of a flagon, cup and paten, all dated 1840.

He left a sum of £10 per annum for the purpose of keeping the chapel in repair, and the monuments of himself and his ancestors clean; food was to be bought with any surplus and distributed amongst the poor of the parish.

[11] There is also a monument to commemorate the life of Sir Richard Musgrave, 4th Baronet, (1701-1739), which is fixed to the outside of the church.

When restored at a later date the craftsmen filled in the holes with plaster, reproduced the defaced ornamentation and added new pillars.

They then applied a yellow pigment to hide the defects and covered the upper surface of the bowl with lead.

The design is supposed to inculcate the idea that the evil spirit is expelled during the baptism of the child.

[13] Several ancient crosses and grave slabs have been carefully preserved in the church, the description of which is largely from the research carried out by the Rev.

Two broad lateral bands passing round bosses, haze a central scroll at the top, whilst in the lower part are the body and legs of a man, with the swastika below.

Two other surfaces have similar carvings, however at the foot of one of these sides is a bound animal, with its head turned over its back.

At the top is a highly decorated ridge, 7.6 centimetres thick, with two zigzag flat bands worked upon it.

On the south side are the main oak gates, which in 1933, were carved by Mr Joseph Berwick and his daughter Alice (later Cane).

On the north side, beyond the wall of the old vicarage garden stands the ancient Dovecote, again Grade 2 listed.

[19] The earliest vicarage, a low whitewashed building, with small windows and flagged floor was built in 1714.