Natural landmarks · North West England
Coniston Water
Lake District lake — Swallows and Amazons setting and Donald Campbell water-speed history.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 1 h–2 h
- Free entry
- Dog-friendly
About
Coniston Water is the third-largest lake in the English Lake District — 5 miles long, half a mile wide, set beneath the 803 m Old Man of Coniston. Famous in two ways: Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons children's adventures are set largely here (Wild Cat Island = Peel Island, Beckfoot = Bank Ground), and Donald Campbell set seven world water-speed records on the lake between 1955 and 1959 before being killed during his attempt on 4 January 1967 in Bluebird K7. The Steam Yacht Gondola (1859, restored by the National Trust) still runs scheduled cruises.
Photo gallery
From the Wikipedia article
Coniston Water is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. It is the third largest by volume, after Windermere and Ullswater, and the fifth-largest by area. The lake has a length of 8.7 kilometres (5+3⁄8 mi), a maximum width of 730 metres (800 yd), and a maximum depth of 56.1 m (184 ft 1 in). Its outflow is the River Crake, which drains into Morecambe Bay via the estuary of the River Leven. The lake is in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, the historic county of Lancashire, and the ceremonial county of Cumbria.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
Remains of agricultural settlements from the Bronze Age have been found near the shores of Coniston Water. The Romans mined copper from the fells above the lake. A potash kiln and two iron bloomeries show that industrial activity continued in medieval times. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Coniston Water was an important source of fish for the monks of Furness Abbey who owned the lake and much of the surrounding land. Copper mining continued in the area until the 19th century. The lake was formerly known as "Thurston Water", a name derived from the Old Norse personal name 'Thursteinn' + Old English 'waeter'. This name was used as an alternative to Coniston Water until the late 18th century.…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 54.3417, -3.0556
- District
- Westmorland and Furness
- Parish
- Satterthwaite
- Postcode
- LA21 8AD
- Parliamentary constituency
- Westmorland and Lonsdale
Sources
- wikidata: Q1126099 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Coniston Water (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Coniston Water from Holme Fell.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Coniston Water?
- Coniston Water is in North-West England, United Kingdom (postcode LA21 8AD), in the parish of Satterthwaite.
- When was Coniston Water built?
- Dates from the prehistoric period.
- Is Coniston Water free to visit?
- Yes, Coniston Water is free to enter.
- How do I get to Coniston Water?
- Drivers can navigate to postcode LA21 8AD. It sits within the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency.