Buttermere is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

district of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, England. It lies within the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

National Park.

Village

The village of Buttermere lies between the lakes of

Buttermere Buttermere is a lake in the Lake District in North West England. It has a length of approximately and a maximum width of , an area of , a maximum depth of , and a surface elevation of above sea level. Its primary outflow is Buttermere Dubs, a ...

and Crummock Water, and is overlooked by the summits of

Grasmoor Grasmoor is a mountain in the north-western part of the Lake District, northern England. It is the highest peak in a group of hills between the villages of Lorton, Cumbria, Lorton, Braithwaite and Buttermere, and overlooks Crummock Water. Grasm ...

to the north and High Stile to the south. The nearest towns are Keswick and

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

, both of which are approximately away. Buttermere Church - geograph

Buttermere church is dedicated to St James, and dates from 1840, replacing a chapel which was dedicated in 1507. It has a memorial plaque to

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

, in the sill of a window with a view of Haystacks where his ashes were scattered. It is Grade II listed. In the village
The Bridge Hotel
stands on a site dating back to the 11th century, where an armoury and a bakery stood, in connection with the Water-Mill Earl Boether built higher up the stream. For seven centuries the mill worked continuously, the buildings being many times renewed. Circa 1734, the buildings were sold to the church, the curate being the Reverend Robert Walker. He obtained a beer licence and originated the Bridge Inn. In 1837, Jonathan Thomas Sleap purchased the property, rebuilding the inn using stone obtained from the old water will. He changed the name to 'Victoria' upon the visit by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1850. In 1861, H Cooper inherited the property incorporating the bay windows, but it was the author Nicholas Size, who in 1920 extended and improved the building. Upon his death the new owner changed the name to 'The Bridge'. Peter and Janet McGuire who bought the hotel 1978, have owned the premises to the present day. The Fish Inn was the home of

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

, known as the Maid of Buttermere, when her father was its landlord. It kept this name until 2019, and is now called the Buttermere Court Hotel. Buttermere is situated on the B5289 road that runs beside Crummock Water and along the valley of the River Cocker north to Cockermouth. In the other direction, the B5289 runs via the steep Honister Pass, to

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland, England. It is in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, and is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' to distinguis ...

and Keswick. A more direct, but more minor, road crosses the nearby Newlands Pass into the Newlands Valley and hence to Keswick.

Civil parish

The civil parish of Buttermere covers a considerable area around the village, including both Buttermere and Crummock Water lakes, the summit of Grasmoor, the north side of High Stile and the western side of Honister Pass. The smaller settlements of Brackenthwaite, to the north of Crummock Water, and Gatesgarth, at the foot of the Honister Pass, are included. The parish lies entirely within the

Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Buttermere, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

level: Buttermere Parish Council and Cumberland Council. The parish council meets at the Old School Room. The parish is wholly within the Lake District National Park, and so some functions are administered by the Lake District National Park Authority, notably

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

. The parish council works in partnership with the three neighbouring parishes of Blindbothel, Lorton, and

Loweswater Loweswater is one of the smaller lakes in the English Lake District. 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. T ...

as the Melbreak Communities, particularly to respond to issues of flooding along the River Cocker. The parish is within the Penrith and Solway constituency for elections to the

United Kingdom Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

Administrative history

Buttermere was historically a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in the

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Brigham, in the historic county of

. The parish of Brigham was large, and its four south-eastern townships of Brackenthwaite, Buttermere, Lorton and Wythop were served by a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

at Lorton. Buttermere's church of St James was a subordinate chapel to the one at Lorton. The township of Buttermere took on civil functions under the

poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s. E ...

from the 17th century onwards. As such, the township also became a

in 1866, when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws. The parish of Buttermere was included in the Cockermouth Rural District from 1894. It was enlarged in 1934 to take in the area of the abolished neighbouring parish of Brackenthwaite. Cockermouth Rural District was abolished in 1974, becoming part of the borough of

Allerdale Allerdale was a non-metropolitan district of Cumbria, England, with Borough status in England and Wales, borough status. Its council – Allerdale Borough Council – was based in Workington, and the borough had a population of 96,422 at the ...

in the new county of Cumbria. Allerdale was in turn abolished in 2023 when the new Cumberland Council was created, also taking over the functions of the abolished Cumbria County Council in the area.

Demography

At the 2021 census, the population of the parish was 92. The population had been 127 at the 2001 census, and 121 at the 2011 census.

Transport

A free bus operates between Buttermere and

with five return services per day.

Famous residents

(1778–1837) — known as "The Maid of Buttermere" and the subject of writings by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, Charles Lamb and, more recently,

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...

's novel of that name.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Buttermere
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page) {{authority control Villages in Cumbria Civil parishes in Cumbria Cumberland (unitary authority)