Bowston is a village in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England, situated about north of Kendal, beside the

River Kent The River Kent is a short river in the county of Cumbria in England. It originates in hills surrounding Kentmere, and flows for around 20 miles (32 km) into the north of Morecambe Bay. The upper reaches and the western bank of the estuary ...

. It has an old, probably 17th century, bridge over the river which is a Grade II listed structure. A rare VR (Victoria Regina)

postbox A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail inten ...

can be seen in the wall at the junction of Burneside Road and Potter Fell road. The village was home to William T. Palmer, an unsung Lakeland author, climber and local man. A mile north of the village, Godmond Hall is a 17th-century house incorporating a medieval

pele tower Peel towers (also spelt pele) are small fortified keeps or tower houses, built along the English and Scottish borders in the Scottish Marches and North of England, mainly between the mid-14th century and about 1600. They were free-standing ...

History

Bowston has roots in the paper production industry, which made Cropper's Paper Mill at Burneside successful. In 1880 Bowston Mill, between Burneside and Cowan Head, was purchased by Cropper's. Bowston Mill may well have begun life as a fulling mill, but a new building was constructed to prepare rags and ropes for the other two mills. Bowston Mill was closed in the early 1960s when waste paper rather than rags came into use in the paper pulp. The mill has now been replaced by terraced housing running along the river's edge.History of James Cropper plc
/ref>

Walking

Bowston is on the

Dales Way The Dales Way is an long-distance footpath in Northern England, from (south-east to north-west) Ilkley, West Yorkshire, to Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. This walk was initially devised by the West Riding Ramblers' Association with the 'leadi ...

which links Windermere in the west to Yorkshire in the East, making it a busy destination for walkers and climbers who follow this long-distance path. The village is also at the bottom of the ascent to Potter Fell.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cumbria South Lakeland District

History

Walking

See also

References