Eskdale is a glacial

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the western

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

National Park 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. It forms part of the Borough of Copeland, and in 2001 had a population of 264, increasing to 304 at the 2011 Census. One of the Lake District's most popular tourist attractions, the

Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a minimum gauge heritage railway in Cumbria, England. The line runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth Station near Boot in the valley of Eskdale, in the Lake District. At Ravenglass the line ends at Ravengl ...

, runs through the valley, though along with other western valleys of the Lake District, Eskdale is notably quieter during the high summer season than the more accessible eastern areas.

Topography

The River Esk flows through the valley to its estuary at

Ravenglass Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland District in Cumbria, England. It is between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Historically in Cumberland, it is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. It is located at the es ...

. The valley is notable in being one of few major valleys in the Lake District not to have its own lake, although several

tarns A tarn (or corrie loch) is a proglacial mountain lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. Etymology The word is derived from the Old Norse word ''tjörn'' ("a small mount ...

are perched above the valley sides. The main access to the valley is from the western end; however, there is also a steep pass with a motor road leading out of the valley to the east over

Hardknott Pass Hardknott Pass is a hill pass between Eskdale and the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. The tarmac-surfaced road, which is the most direct route from the central Lake District to West Cumbria, shares the titl ...

, as well as a road with beautiful views leading southwards over Birker Fell to the village of

Ulpha Ulpha is a small village and civil parish in the Duddon Valley in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it forms part of the borough of Copeland. At Ulpha a road leaves the Duddon Valley to cross Bir ...

in the Duddon Valley.

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

in his guide "Walks from Ratty" describes Eskdale as "One of the loveliest of Lakeland's valleys, descends from the highest and wildest mountains in the district to the Sands of Ravenglass in a swift transition from bleak and craggy ridges to verdant woodlands and pastures watered by a charming river." Upper Eskdale is a remote wilderness surrounded by

Sca Fell Scafell ( or ; also spelled Sca Fell, previously Scawfell) is a mountain in the English Lake District, part of the Southern Fells. Its height of makes it the second-highest mountain in England after its neighbour Scafell Pike, from which ...

Scafell Pike Scafell Pike () is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif. Scafell Pi ...

Ill Crag Ill Crag is a fell in the English Lake District. At , it is the fourth-highest Hewitt and Nutalls anGoogle Search "Highest Mountains In England" peak in England, after Scafell Pike, Sca Fell, and Helvellyn. Ill Crag overlooks Eskdale and has sp ...

, Esk Pike, Bow Fell and

Crinkle Crags Crinkle Crags is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It forms part of two major rings of mountains, surrounding the valleys of Great Langdale and Upper Eskdale. The name reflects the fell's physical appearance ...

; the

Woolpack walk The Woolpack Walk is a challenge walk which starts and finishes at the Woolpack Inn, Eskdale in the Lake District of England. The route covers and takes in of ascent Route The route is generally tackled clockwise, taking in the following ...

takes in this classic horseshoe.

Governance

Eskdale is within the Copeland UK Parliamentary constituency and the North West England European Parliamentary constituency.

Trudy Harrison Trudy Lynne Harrison (born 19 April 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Copeland since the February 2017 by-election. It was the first time Copeland had elected a Conservative MP sinc ...

is the

Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. Before

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

, it was in the

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

European Parliamentary Constituency.

Historical districts

The former Eskdale ward of north eastern

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

was named after the River Esk in the Scottish Borders, whereas the valley described in this article was located in the former

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Allerdale Above Derwent which is the present-day local council district of Copeland.

June 2010 shootings

The area became one of the locations involved in a

killing spree A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations ...

perpetrated by 52-year-old taxi driver Derrick Bird, who shot and killed twelve people and wounded eleven others. Several of the wounded victims were shot in Eskdale and the surrounding area. St Catherine's church, Eskdale, Cumbria

In Literature

In a note to her poetical illustration (Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836) to a painting by G. Pickering,

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

remarks on the hospitality of the 'estatesmen' of this district. Eskdale and Rafnglass (modern Ravenglass) feature in Rosemary Sutcliff's final novel (1992) Sword Song, set in the 9th century.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Eskdale and Wasdale
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
Eskdale website

The Cumbria Directory - Eskdale
{{Authority control Lake District Borough of Copeland Civil parishes in Cumbria Valleys of Cumbria