Moss Eccles Tarn is a tarn on

Claife Heights Claife Heights is an upland area in the Lake District, near to Windermere in Cumbria, England. It has a topographic prominence of so is classified as a Marilyn (a hill with prominence of at least 150m). It is the subject of a chapter of Wain ...

, near

Near Sawrey Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. They are located in the Lake District between the village of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere. The two lie on the B5285, which runs from Hawk ...

in the Lake District,

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. C ...

. It is currently owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and known as an attractive tarn for fishing and walking. It is known for its association with

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

– she owned the tarn and donated it to the National Trust after her death, and it served as inspiration for some of her stories.

Description

The tarn is on

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'', publis ...

calls it the "most attractive" tarn on Claife Heights; it is stocked with

water lilies ''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...

and fish, and surrounded by rhododendrons. The outflow is bridged by a small

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

. The tarn is best reached by following a track from

, a small village between

Hawkshead Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, which attracts tourists to the South Lakeland area. The parish includes the hamlets of Hawkshead Hill, to the north west, and Outgate, a similar distance north. Hawkshead contains on ...

and

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 ...

History

Wainwright contends the "tarn" to be a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, noting that none of the tarns on Claife Heights appear on 19th-century maps. He notes, however, that they are "not obtrusively artificial". After

and her husband William Heelis married in 1913, they lived in Castle Cottage in

Far Sawrey Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. They are located in the Lake District between the village of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere. The two lie on the B5285, which runs from Hawk ...

and rowed on the tarn in summer evenings. Potter sketched near the tarn and her husband fished in it. In 1926, Potter bought part of the tarn, planting the water lilies and stocking it with fish. Along with much other land, it was left to the National Trust by Potter upon her death in 1943. It was probably a combination of Moss Eccles Tarn and

Esthwaite Water Esthwaite Water is one of the smaller and lesser known lakes in the Lake District National Park in northern England. It is situated between the much larger lakes of Windermere and Coniston Water, in the traditional county of Lancashire; since 1 ...

that served as inspiration for the home of Jeremy Fisher in '' The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher''; the road to the tarn from Near Sawrey was also drawn by Potter for '' The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding''. The "strange, flat bottomed boat" in which Potter and Heelis rowed is now housed in the Windermere Steamboat Museum; it was salvaged from the tarn in 1976.

Fishing

The tarn is stocked with brown trout, and the fishing rights are controlled by the Windermere, Ambleside and District Anglish Association on behalf of the National Trust. The membership of the association is open, and tickets to fish in the tarn can be bought from local pubs, service stations and fishing shops. There is a limit to two fish per day per person.

References

{{authority control Reservoirs in Cumbria Beatrix Potter National Trust properties in the Lake District South Lakeland District