Crummock Water is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. It is long, wide, deep, and has an area of . The lake's primary inflow is Buttermere Dubs, itself the outflow of Buttermere, and its outflow is the River Cocker, which meets the River Derwent at Cockermouth before entering the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

. It is in the unitary authority of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and the ceremonial county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. It is in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Buttermere, and its western shore forms part of the western boundary of the parish.

Geography

The hill of Mellbreak runs the full length of the lake on its western side; as

Alfred Wainwright Alfred Wainwright Order of the British Empire, MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalking, fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume ''Pictorial ...

described it 'no pairing of hill and lake in Lakeland have a closer partnership than these'. The lake is owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. Scale Force, the highest waterfall in the Lake District, feeds the lake and has a drop of .

Etymology

"The meaning of 'Crummock' seems to be 'Crooked one', from British" ( Brythonic Celtic) "'crumbaco'-'crooked'". This may refer to the winding course of the River Cocker, which flows out of the lake, or refer to the bending nature of the lake itself. The word "'water' is the main Lakeland term for 'lake'".

History

Water from the lake was treated at Cornhow water treatment works, near Loweswater, and was distributed to the towns of

Silloth-on-Solway Silloth, or Silloth-on-Solway, is a port town and civil parish in the Cumberland (district), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town stands on the coast of the Solway Firth, west of Carlisle. It was developed from the 1850s onwards a ...

Maryport Maryport is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is on the coast of the Solway Firth and lies at the northern end of the former Cumberland Co ...

, and many smaller towns, villages, and hamlets in the surrounding area for drinking and all other uses. This use ceased in October 2022 with the commissioning of the

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU) is the United Kingdom's largest listed water company. It was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West En ...

pipeline to bring supply from

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a numbe ...

. Crummock Water gained attention in 1988 when the body of Sheena Owlett was found in the lake. It later transpired she had been murdered in

Wetherby Wetherby ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire and lies approximately from Leeds city centre, from ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

Gallery

File:Crummock with Grasmoor in the distance.jpg, Crummock Water with Grasmoor in the distance File:Looking down Crummock towards Buttermere.jpg, Looking down Crummock towards Buttermere File:HaystacksPanorama.jpg, High Crag, Pillar, Buttermere and Crummock Water from Haystacks File:Crummock.jpg, The western end of Crummock Water from Rannerdale Knotts File:Crummock Water with Mellbreak.jpg, Crummock Water from the south-eastern end

References

External links

Crummock WaterThe Cumbria Directory - Crummock Water
Lakes of the Lake District Cumberland Buttermere, Cumbria (village) {{Cumbria-geo-stub