Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LAKE DISTRICT

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 91 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

LAKE See also:DISTRICT , in See also:England, a district containing all the See also:principal See also:English lakes, and variously termed the Lake See also:Country, Lakeland and " the Lakes." It falls within the See also:north-western counties of See also:Cumberland, See also:Westmorland and See also:Lancashire (See also:Furness district), about one-See also:half being within the first of these. Although celebrated far outside the confines of See also:Great See also:Britain as a district of remarkable and strongly individual See also:physical beauty, its See also:area is only some 700 sq. m., a circle with See also:radius of 15 M. from the central point covering practically the whole. Within this circle, besides the largest lake, See also:Windermere, is the highest point in England, See also:Scafell See also:Pike; yet Windermere is but See also:roe m. in length, and covers an area of 5.69 sq. m., while Scafell Pike is only 3210 ft. in height. But the lakes show a wonderful variety of See also:character, from open expanse and steep See also:rock-See also:bound shores to picturesque See also:island-See also:groups and soft wooded See also:banks; while the mountains have always a remarkable dignity, less from the See also:profile of their summits than from the bold sweeping lines of their flanks, unbroken by vegetation, and often culminating in sheer cliffs or crags. At their feet, the See also:flat See also:green valley floors of the higher elevations give See also:place in the See also:lower parts to lovely See also:woods. The streams are See also:swift and clear, and numerous small waterfalls are characteristic of the district. To the north, See also:west and See also:south, a flat coastal See also:belt, bordering the Irish See also:Sea, with its inlets See also:Morecambe See also:Bay and Solway See also:Firth, and broadest in the north, marks off the Lake District, while to the See also:east the valleys of the See also:Eden and the Lune See also:divide it from the Pennine See also:mountain See also:system. Geologically, too, it is individual. Its centre is of volcanic rocks, complex in character, while the See also:Coal-See also:measures and New Red See also:Sandstone appear See also:round the edges. The district as a whole is grooved by a See also:main depression, See also:running from north to south along the valleys of St See also:John, Thirlmere, See also:Grasmere' and Windermere, . surmounting a pass (Dunmail Raise) of only 783 ft.; while a secondary depression, in the same direction, runs along See also:Derwentwater, Borrowdale, Wasdale and Wastwater, but here See also:Sty See also:Head Pass, between Borrowdale and Wasdale, rises to 1600 ft. The centre of the 15-m. radius lies on the lesser heights between Langstrath and Dunmail Raise, which may, however, be the See also:crown of an See also:ancient See also:dome of rocks, " the dissected See also:skeleton of which, worn by the warfare of See also:air and See also:rain and See also:ice, now alone remains " (Dr H. R..

See also:

Mill, " Bathymetrical Survey of the English Lakes," See also:Geographical See also:Journal, vi. 48). The principal features of the district may be indicated by following this circle round from north, by west, south and east. The See also:river. See also:Derwent (q.v.), rising in the tarns and " gills " or ghylls " (small streams running in deeply-grooved clefts) north of Sty Head Pass and the Scafell See also:mass flows north through the wooded Borrowdale and forms Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite. These two lakes are in a class apart from all the See also:rest, being broader for their length, and quite shallow (about 18 ft. See also:average and 70 ft. maximum), as distinct from the See also:long, narrow and deep troughs occupied by the other See also:chief lakes, which average from 40 to 135 ft. deep. Derwentwater (q.v.), studded with many islands, is perhaps the most beautiful of all. Borrowdale is joined on the east by the See also:bare See also:wild See also:dale of Langstrath, and the Greta joins the Derwent immediately below Derwentwater; the See also:town of See also:Keswick lying near the junction. Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite occupy a single depression, a flat alluvial See also:plain separating them. From Seatoller In Borrowdale a road traverses Honister Pass (I See also:loo ft.), whence it descends westward, beneath the majestic Honister Crags, where green See also:slate is quarried, into the valley containing Buttermere (94 ft. max. See also:depth) and Crummock See also:Water (144 ft.), drained by the See also:Cocker. Between this and the Derwent valley the principal height is Grasmoor (2791 ft.) ; southward a steep narrow See also:ridge (High See also:Style, 2643) divides it from Ennerdale, containing Ennerdale Water (148 ft. max. depth), which is fed by the Liza and drained by the Ehen. A splendid range separates this dale from Wasdale and its tributary Mosedale, including Great Gable (2949 ft.), See also:Pillar (2927), with the precipitous Pillar Rock on the Ennerdale flank and See also:Steeple (2746).

Wasdale Head, between Gable and the Scafell range, is peculiarly See also:

grand, with dark See also:grey screes and See also:black crags frowning above its narrow bottom. On this See also:side of Gable is the See also:fine detached rock, Napes See also:Needle. Wastwater, 3 M. in length, is the deepest lake of all (258 ft.), its See also:floor, like those of Windermere and Ullswater, sinking below sea-level. Its east See also:shore consists of a great range of screes. East of Wasdale lies the range of Scafell (q.v.), its chief points being Scafell (3162 ft.), Scafell Pike (3210), Lingmell (2649) and Great End (2984), while the See also:line is continued over Esk Hause Pass (2490) along a fine line of heights (See also:Bow See also:Fell, 2960; Crinkle Crags, 2816), to embrace the head of Eskdale. The line then descends to Wrynose Pass (1270 ft.), from which the Duddon runs south through a vale of See also:peculiar richness in its lower parts; while the range continues south to culminate in the Old See also:Man of Coniston (2633) with the splendid See also:Dow Crags above Goats Water. The pleasant vale of Yewdale drains south to Coniston Lake (51 m. long, 184 ft. max. depth), east of which a lower, well-wooded See also:tract, containing two beautiful lesser lakes, See also:Tarn Hows and Esthwaite Water, extends to Windermere (q.v.). This lake collects See also:waters by the Brathay from Langdale, the head of which, between Bow Fell and Langdale Pikes (240, ft.), is very fine; and by the Rothay from Dunmail Raise and the small lakes of Grasmere and Rydal Water, embowered in woods. East of the Rothay valley and Thirlmere lies the mountain mass including Helvellyn (3118 ft.), See also:Fairfield (2863) and other points, with magnificent crags at several places on the eastern side towards Grisedale and Patterdale. These dales drain to Ullswater (205 ft. max., second to Windermere in area), and so north-east to the Eden. To the east and south-east lies the ridge named High See also:Street (2663 ft.), from the See also:Roman road still trace-able from south to north along its See also:summit, and sloping east again to the sequestered See also:Hawes Water (103 ft. max.), a curiously shaped lake nearly divided by the See also:delta of the Measand See also:Beck. There remains the Thirlmere valley.

Thirlmere itself was raised in level, and adapted by means of a See also:

dam at the north end, as a See also:reservoir for the water-See also:supply of See also:Manchester in 1890–1894. It drains north by St John's Vale into the Greta, north of which again rises a mountain-See also:group of which the chief summits are Saddleback or Blencathra (2847 ft.) and the graceful See also:peak of Skiddaw (3054). The most noteworthy water-falls are—See also:Scale Force (Dano-See also:Norwegian fors, See also:foss), besidesCrummock, Lodore near Derwentwater, See also:Dungeon Gill Force, beside Langdale, Dalegarth Force in Eskdale, Aira near Ullswater, sung by Words-See also:worth, Stock Gill Force and Rydal Falls near See also:Ambleside. The principal centres in the Lake District are Keswick (Derwentwater), Ambleside, Bowness, Windermere and Lakeside (Winder-See also:mere), Coniston and See also:Boot (Eskdale), all of which, except Ambleside and Bowness (which nearly joins Windermere) are accessible by See also:rail. The considerable See also:village of Grasmere lies beautifully at the head of the lake of that name; and above Esthwaite is the small town of Hawkshead, with an ancient See also:church, and picturesque houses curiously built on the See also:hill-slope and sometimes spanning the streets. There are See also:regular steamer services on Windermere and Ullswater. Coaches and cars See also:traverse the main roads during the summer, but many of the finest dales and passes are accessible only on See also:foot or by ponies. All the mountains offer easy routes to pedestrians, but some of them, as Scafell, Pillar, Gable (Napes Needle), Pavey See also:Ark above Langdale and Dow Crags near Coniston, also afford ascents for experienced climbers. This mountainous district, having the sea to the west, records an unusually heavy rainfall. Near Seathwaite, below Styhead Pass, the largest See also:annual rainfall in the See also:British Isles is recorded, the average(1870–1899) being 133'53 in., while 173.7 was measured in 1903 and 243'98 in. in 1872. At Keswick the annual mean is 6o.o2, at Grasmere about 8o ins. The months of maximum rainfall at Seath. See also:waite are See also:November, See also:December and See also:January and See also:September.

See also:

Fish taken in the lakes include See also:perch, pike, See also:char and See also:trout in Windermere, Ennerdale, Bassenthwaite, Derwentwater, &c., and the See also:gwyniad or fresh-water See also:herring in Ullswater. The See also:industries of the Lake District include slate See also:quarrying and some See also:lead and See also:zinc See also:mining, and See also:weaving, bobbin-making and See also:pencil-making. Setting aside See also:London and See also:Edinburgh, no locality in the British Isles is so intimately associated with the See also:history of English literature as the Lake District. In point of See also:time the poet whose name is first connected with the region is See also:Gray, who wrote a journal of his tour in 1769. But it was See also:Wordsworth, a native of Cumberland, See also:born on the outskirts of the Lake District itself, who really made it a See also:Mecca for lovers of English See also:poetry. Out of his long See also:life of eighty years, sixty were spent amid its lakes and mountains, first as a schoolboy at Hawkshead, and afterwards as a See also:resident at Grasmere (1799–1813) and Rydal See also:Mount (1813–1850). In the See also:churchyard of Grasmere the poet and his wife See also:lie buried; and very near to them are the remains of See also:Hartley See also:Coleridge (son of the poet), who himself lived many years at Keswick, Ambleside and Grasmere. See also:Southey, the friend of Words-worth, was a resident of Keswick for See also:forty years (1803–1843), and was buried in Crosthwaite churchyard. See also:Samuel See also:Taylor Coleridge lived some time at Keswick, and also with the Wordsworths at Grasmere. From 1807 to 1815 See also:Christopher North (John See also:Wilson) was settled at_Windermere. De Quincey spent the greater See also:part of the years 1809 to 1828 at Grasmere, in the first cottage which Words-worth had inhabited. Ambleside, or its environs, was also the place of See also:residence of Dr See also:Arnold (of See also:Rugby), who spent there the vacations of the last ten years of his life; and of Harriet See also:Martineau, who built herself a See also:house there in 1845.

At Keswick Mrs See also:

Lynn See also:Linton was born in 1822. Brantwood, a house beside Coniston Lake, was the See also:home of See also:Ruskin during the last years of his life. In addition to these residents or natives of the locality, See also:Shelley, See also:Scott, Nathaniel See also:Hawthorne, See also:Clough, Crabb See also:Robinson, See also:Carlyle, See also:Keats, See also:Tennyson, See also:Matthew Arnold, Mrs See also:Hemans, Gerald See also:Massey and others of less reputation made longer or shorter visits, or were bound by ties of friendship with the poets already mentioned. The Vale of St John, near Keswick, recalls Scott's Bridal of Triermain. But there is a deeper connexion than this between the Lake District and English letters. See also:German literature tells of several See also:literary See also:schools, or groups of writers animated by the same ideas, and working in the spirit of the same principles and by the same poetic methods. The most notable instance—indeed it is almost the only instance—of the See also:kind in English literature is the Lake School of Poets. Of this school the acknowledged head and founder was Wordsworth, and the tenets it professed are those laid down by the poet himself in the famous See also:preface to the edition of The Lyrical See also:Ballads which he published in 1800. Wordsworth's theories of poetry—the See also:objects best suited for poetic treatment, the characteristics of such treatment and the choice of diction suitable for the purpose—may be said to have grown out of the See also:soil and substance of the lakes and mountains, and out of the homely lives of the See also:people, of Cumberland and Westmoreland. See CUMBERLAND, LANCASHIRE, WESTMORLAND. The following is a selection from the literature of the subject: Harriet Martineau, The English Lakes (Windermere, 1858); Mrs Lynn Linton, The Lake Country (London, 1864) ; E. See also:Waugh, Rambles in the Lake Country (186,) and In the Lake Country (1880); W.

See also:

Knight, Through the Wordsworth Country (London, 1890) ; H. D. Rawnsley, Literary Associations of the English Lakes (2 vols., See also:Glasgow, 1894) and Life and Nature of the English Lakes (Glasgow, 1899) ; Stopford See also:Brooke, See also:Dove Cottage, Wordsworth's Home from z800 to z8o8; A. G. See also:Bradley, The Lake District, its Highways and Byeways (London, 1901); See also:Sir John Harwood, History of the Thirlmere Water See also:Scheme (1895) ; for mountain-climbing, See also:Col. J. See also:Brown, Mountain Ascents in Westmorland and Cumberland (London, 1888) ; Haskett-See also:Smith, Climbing in the British Isles, part. i.; See also:Owen G. See also:Jones, Rock-climbing in the English Lake District, 2nd ed. by W. M. Crook (Keswick, 1900).

End of Article: LAKE DISTRICT

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
LAKE CITY 		[next]
LAKE DWELLINGS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries