Grasmere is a village and tourist destination 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. ...

, England, in the centre of the Lake District, named after its adjacent

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

. It has links with the Lake Poets:

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

and

Dorothy Wordsworth Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth (25 December 1771 – 25 January 1855) was an English author, poet, and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close all their adult lives. Dorothy Wordsworth had no am ...

lived in Grasmere for 14 years and called it "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found."A Farewell
Retrieved 2 December 2013 Grasmere lies within the historic county of Westmorland. In 1961, the civil parish had a population of 1,029. That of the

Ambleside Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England. Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's largest n ...

and Grasmere ward was 4,475 in the 2011 census and estimated at 4,592 in 2019.

Etymology

One possibility is "the lake (mere) flanked by grass." Although early spellings with "Grys-" or "Gris(s)-" might suggest Old Norse "griss", meaning "young pig" as the first element, evidence points to the Old English/Old Norse "gres", meaning grass, with the modern form influenced by Standard English. The medial "-s(s)e-" may, as suggested by Ekwall, point to the Old Norse "gres-saer" or "grass-lake" as the original name. The element "mere" refers to a still extant word meaning "lake" or "pool".

History

and

lived in Grasmere for 14 years and called it "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found."

Geography

The village is on the

River Rothay The Rothay is a spate river of the Lake District in north-west England. Its name comes from Old Norse and translates literally as ''the red one''. This has come to mean ''trout river''. It rises close to Rough Crag above Dunmail Raise at a p ...

, which flows into Grasmere lake about 0.5 km to the south. The village is overlooked from the north-west by the rocky hill of Helm Crag, popularly known as ''The Lion and the Lamb'' or the ''Old Lady at the organ''. These names derive from the shape of rock formations on its summit, depending on the side from which it is viewed. The several walks that begin in the village include the ascent of Helm Crag, a longer route up to Fairfield, and a moderate 200-metre ascent to

Easedale Tarn Easedale Tarn is a tarn in the centre of the English Lake District, about two miles west of the village of Grasmere. It lies in a hollow between Tarn Crag to the north and Blea Rigg to the south, about 910 feet or 280 metres above sea level. ...

. The village is also on the route of

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 ...

Coast to Coast Walk The Coast to Coast Walk is a long-distance footpath between the west and east coasts of Northern England, nominally long. Devised by Alfred Wainwright, it passes through three contrasting national parks: the Lake District National Park, the ...

The main A591 road connects Grasmere to the Vale of Keswick over Dunmail Raise to the north, and to

to the south. In other directions, Grasmere is surrounded by high ground. (At Christmas 2015, the A591 was washed away on the Keswick side of Dunmail Raise, causing traffic to make a long detour. It reopened in May 2016.) To the west, a long ridge comes down from High Raise and contains the lesser heights of Blea Rigg and Silver How. To the east, Grasmere is bordered by the western ridge of the Fairfield horseshoe.

Transport

Grasmere lies on the main A591 road between Keswick and Kendal. It is served by the

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

555 bus service connecting towns such as Keswick and Lancaster. In summer it is also served by a Stagecoach open-top double-decker 599 service, which runs between Grasmere and Bowness-on-Windermere. The nearest railway station is at

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

(9 miles), which has hourly local services.

Communal events

Rushbearing

Grasmere's famous

Rushbearing Rushbearing is an old English ecclesiastical festival in which rushes are collected and carried to be strewn on the floor of the parish church. The tradition dates back to the time when most buildings had earthen floors and rushes were used as ...

Ceremony, centred on St Oswald's Church, has ancient origins. The present-day ceremony is an annual event which features a procession through the village with bearings made from rushes and flowers. In this procession there are also six Maids of Honour, a brass band, the church choir, and others carrying their own decorated rush-bearing.

Sports

The annual Grasmere Sports in August were first held in 1852. Participants compete in a variety of sports, including Cumberland wrestling,

fell running Fell running, also sometimes known as hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off-road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty. The name arises from the origins of the English sport o ...

and hound trails (similar to drag hunting).

Sweetmeats

Grasmere contains the winner of the "Get Started Award 2014" awarded by the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs: the Handmade Chocolate Shop. Grasmere Gingerbread is made to a "secret recipe" popularised by Sarah Nelson (1815–1904). By the early 19th century, Grasmere gingerbread was being sold as fairings and as a popular seller in its own right. Poet

wrote in 1803 that she and her brother

craved the gingerbread.

Religious

Until September 2013, Grasmere's three main church parishes (

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

) gathered three times a year to celebrate mass in the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Wayside. Grasmere also has a Quaker guest house
Glenthorne
where Quaker meetings of worship are held.

Government

The Lakes were governed by an urban district council, before becoming part of the

Lakes Urban District A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

in 1934. The parish was abolished on 1 April 1974 to form

Lakes A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

. Grasmere is represented by Liberal Democrat politicians on the district and county councils, and at Westminster. Grasmere has lost population since the 1960s.

In Art and Literature

George Pickering painted many views around Grasmere, and an engraving of one of these, ''Grassmere Lake and Village, Westmorland'', was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Sketch Book, 1834, accompanied by a humorous sketch by

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 ...

about a lover of poetry who, given a legacy, buys a property here only to find extraordinary steps would be required to make life bearable.

Notable persons

In birth order: *

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...

(1770–1850), poet, lived in Dove Cottage with his sister

(1771–1855), in the hamlet of Townend, outside Grasmere, from 1799. He breakfasted with

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

at ''The Swan'', an inn on today's A591, whose sign quotes his line, "Who does not know the famous ''Swan''?" In 1808 he moved to

Allan Bank Allan Bank is a grade II listed two-storey villa standing on high ground slightly to the west of Grasmere village in the heart of the Lake District. It is best known for being from 1808 to 1811 the home of William Wordsworth, but it was also ...

then to Rydal Mount. He, his wife and his sister are buried in the churchyard of St Oswald's. *

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

(1772–1834), poet, spent time at Dove Cottage and is said to have muttered stanzas for '' The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' while walking across the nearby fells. *

Thomas De Quincey Thomas Penson De Quincey (; 15 August 17858 December 1859) was an English writer, essayist, and literary critic, best known for his '' Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'' (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quinc ...

(1785–1859), man of letters, rented Dove Cottage after the Wordsworths left. * Paul Frederick de Quincey (1828–1894), son of Thomas and a New Zealand politician, was born at Grasmere. *

William Angus Knight William Angus Knight (22 February 1836 – 4 March 1916) was a Scottish Free Church minister and author and Professor of Moral Philosophy at St Andrews University. He created the Lady Literate in Arts qualification. Life He was born in the ...

(1836–1916), a Scottish academic, compiled an 11-volume ''Wordsworth's Works and Life'' (1881–1889) and presented his library of Wordsworth materials to Dove Cottage. * William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), an Oxford University academic and instigator of spoonerisms, was buried here, near the house of his wife's family, How Foot. * Canon Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley (1851–1920), co-founder of the National Trust, lived in Grasmere in 1915–1920. *

John Haden Badley John Haden Badley (21 February 1865 – 6 March 1967) was an English author, educator, and founder of Bedales School, which claims to have become the first coeducational public boarding school in England in 1893. Life Born in Dudley, Worc ...

(1865–1967), educationalist and founder of

Bedales Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

School, spent time with his sisters at their Grasmere home, Winterseeds. *Brigadier Gordon Hutchinson Osmaston (1898–1990), a founder member of the Himalayan Club and former director of the Survey of India, taught later at Huyton Hill School and lived in Grasmere., https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/48/2/gordon-osmaston-and-tenzing/.
/ref> * Charles Morris (1898–1990), philosopher and Leeds University vice-chancellor, died at Grasmere. *The husband-and-wife artists

William Heaton Cooper William Heaton Cooper RA (6 October 1903 – 1995) was a notable English impressionistic landscape artist who worked predominantly in watercolours, most famous for his paintings of the Lake District. Since the 1950s, he has become known as ...

(1903–1995), landscape painter, and

Ophelia Gordon Bell Joan Ophelia Gordon Bell (1915–1975) was an English sculptor, known for her several commissions for the United Kingdom's Atomic Energy Authority. She was born in London on 1 July 1915, the daughter of the painter Winifred Gordon Bell, (''n� ...

(1915–1975), sculptor, lived and are buried at Grasmere. * Fred Yates (1922–2008), painter, was living at Cote How near Grasmere (1900–1906) when he painted the future United States president

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...

and John Haden Badley. * Robert Woof (1931–2005), academic, was the first keeper of the collections of the William Wordsworth Museum at Dove Cottage. * Bob Barratt (1938 or 1939–2004) was the founder of the Grasmere Records label for brass band and organ music.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Grasmere
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
South Lakeland – Ward ProfilesThe Cumbria Directory – Grasmere
*
Lake District Walks – Grasmere Walks
{{Authority control Villages in Cumbria Former civil parishes in Cumbria South Lakeland District Lake District