Loweswater is one of the smaller
lakes in the English
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 ...
. The village of
Loweswater is situated to the east of the lake.
Geography
The lake is not far from
Cockermouth and is also easily reached from elsewhere in West
Cumbria. The group of
fells to the south of Loweswater is known as the Loweswater Fells and consists of
Mellbreak
Mellbreak is a hill in the Western part of the English Lake District. Despite being surrounded on all sides by higher fells (the Loweswater Fells, the High Stile Ridge and the Grasmoor Group), it stands in isolation. It is surrounded on three si ...
,
Gavel Fell
Gavel Fell is a hill in the English Lake District. Centremost of the five Loweswater Fells in the western part of the District, it stands between Hen Comb and Blake Fell. Of moderate altitude it can be climbed from Loweswater village, or from Cr ...
,
Blake Fell,
Hen Comb
Hen Comb is a fell in the west of the English Lake District. One of the Loweswater Fells it lies to the south of Loweswater lake and Loweswater village. Although of only moderate height, its ascent can be difficult as it is largely surrounded by ...
and
Burnbank Fell
Burnbank Fell is a small hill in the west of the English Lake District. It is the most westerly of the Loweswater Fells, a group of low grassy hills just south of Loweswater. It is predominantly grassy, with sprawling flanks and a broad ridge co ...
. To the north of the lake lies the
Fellbarrow
Fellbarrow is a low hill in the north west of the English Lake District. It is not far from the town of Cockermouth, near to Loweswater and can most easily be climbed from Low Lorton, or Thackthwaite. From the summit there are views across the ...
range.
The lake is unusual in the radial drainage pattern of the Lake District in draining towards the centre of the Lake District: its outfall, Dub Beck, becomes Park Beck and runs east or south-east into the north end of
Crummock Water, close to that lake's exit. By way of the
River Cocker and
River Derwent, Loweswater's contents eventually reach the sea at
Workington.
The immediate vicinity of Loweswater consists mainly of rolling hills, in contrast to the rocky
mountains found elsewhere in the Lake District (though Mellbreak, part of the Loweswater Fells, is steep and craggy). Loweswater remains relatively untouched by tourism, and is much quieter than the neighbouring lakes,
Buttermere and Crummock Water. There is, however, a popular lakeside path, which goes right round the lake. The south side of the lake is the site of Holme Wood, a small forest. Within this forest is Holme Force, a waterfall of great beauty, which is rarely visited as it is not noticeable from the lakeside path. A road follows the north side of the lake, which links the A5086 with the Lorton Vale.
Etymology
"This is usually assumed (e.g. 'PN Cumb'
) to be 'the leafy lake' (ON 'laufsær', preserved in various instances of Swed
sh'Lövsjö(n)'), with the explanatory 'wæter'/'water' 'lake' added later"
Sport and leisure
Loweswater is owned by the
National Trust. Rowing boats can be rented to use on the lake but use of one's own boat is not allowed. Recently the National Trust has done much work on the north side of the lakeside path, cutting down trees to improve views across the lake.
Every year Loweswater is the venue for th
Loweswater show which features traditional
Cumbrian sports
The Cumberland dialect is a local Northern English dialect in decline, spoken in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands, not to be confused with the area's extinct Celtic language, Cumbric. Some parts of Cumbria have a m ...
and has competitions to win farmers' produce
References
External links
visitcumbria.com ''Loweswater''cockermouth.org.uk ''Loweswater Lake''
{{authority control
Lakes of the Lake District
Loweswater (village)
Cumberland