Semerwater is the second largest natural lake in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, after

Malham Tarn Malham Tarn is a glacial lake near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales, England. The lake is one of only eight upland alkaline lakes in Europe. At an altitude of above sea level it is the highest marl lake in the United Kingdom. Its ...

. It is half a mile (800 m) long, covers and lies in

Raydale Raydale (also known as Raydaleside) is a dale on the south side of Wensleydale in North Yorkshire, England. The northern part of the dale is the valley of the River Bain, which flows out of Semerwater, one of very few lakes in the Yorkshire Da ...

, opposite the

River Bain The River Bain is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the River Witham. The Bain rises in the Lincolnshire Wolds at Ludford,J. N. Clarke, (1990), ''The Horncastle and Tattershall Canal'', Oakwood Press, a village on The Vik ...

. A private pay and display parking area is at the foot of the lake. Semerwater attracts canoers, windsurfers, yachtsmen and fishermen. There are three small settlements nearby: * Stalling Busk *

Countersett Countersett is the largest of the three settlements in Raydale, around Semerwater in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Yorkshire Dales to the north of the lake. The Boar East and West were once one farm, and ...

* Marsett Semerwater was the subject of a number of sketches and paintings by the artist

J M W Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...

. Semerwater is a

pleonastic Pleonasm (; , ) is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as "black darkness" or "burning fire". It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria and might be considered a fault of style. Pleonasm may also be used for em ...

place name. The name, first recorded in 1153, derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

elements ''sæ'' 'lake', ''mere'' 'lake' and ''water''. The form "Lake Semerwater" introduces a fourth element with the same meaning. The lake is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, first notified in 1975. Ordnance Survey Sheet SD 98 Stalling Busk Published 1960

Ordnance Survey Sheet SD 98 Stalling Busk Published 1960

Legend

According to an old legend, Semerwater was once occupied by a prosperous city. One night an old man (or in some versions, an angel in disguise) came down to the city, in search of food and drink. He went from door to door, and at each house he was turned away. Finally, he came to the hovel of a poor couple just outside the town; the couple took him in and treated him with great kindness. When the stranger was about to leave, he turned to face the town and uttered the curse: An alternative version as told by locals: And as soon as this was said, the waters of the lake rose up and flooded the village, drowning the proud inhabitants and leaving only the hovel of the poor couple on the hillside unscathed. The legend was the subject of a poem, ''The Ballad of Semerwater'', by Sir William Watson.

Popular culture

Semerwater was featured in the British television series '' All Creatures Great and Small'', in the episode "Female of the Species"."Semer Water, N Yorks, UK – All Creatures Great & Small, The Female Of The Species (1988)"
- Waymarking.com Semerwater is referenced in Sarah Moss's 2020 novel "Summerwater," the title of which stems from a character misremembering the name of the lake and the poem associated with it.

References

External links

Lake Semerwater website
{{authority control Lakes of North Yorkshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire RSemerwater