Windermere () is a town in the

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Windermere and Bowness, in the South Lakeland District of

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 ...

, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 8,245, increasing at the 2011 census to 8,359. It lies about half a mile (1 km) east of the lake,

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 ...

. Although the town Windermere does not touch the lake (it took the name of the lake when the railway line was built in 1847 and the station was called "Windermere"), it has now grown together with the older lakeside town of Bowness-on-Windermere, though the two retain distinguishable town centres. Tourism is popular in the town owing to its proximity to the lake and local scenery. Boats from the

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

s in Bowness sail around the lake, many calling at

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 larges ...

or at Lakeside where there is a restored railway. Windermere Hotel opened at the same time as the railway. The civil parish contains both towns, the village of Troutbeck Bridge to the north and several hamlets, including Storrs to the south and Heaning to the east. Belle Isle and part of the lake are also within its boundaries. The civil parish changed its name from Windermere to Windermere and Bowness on 29 July 2020.

History

Historically a part of the county of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, Windermere town was known as Birthwaite prior to the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway, which stimulated its development. Windermere station offers

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

connections to the surrounding area, Manchester Airport and the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. The geological formations around the area take their name from the town. They are called the Windermere Group of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s. The town's name is also given to the Rt. Hon. Dr

David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere David George Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere PC DL (born 19 October 1939) is a British Labour Party politician, former cabinet minister and author. Education and early career Clark was born in Castle Douglas, Scotland. He attended Bownes ...

, who now lives in Windermere.

Etymology

The word "Windermere" is thought to translate as "Winand or Vinand's lake". The specific has usually been identified with an Old Swedish personal name Vinandr. The other possibility is for a Continental Germanic name Wīnand. The second element is

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 ...

'mere', meaning 'lake' or 'pool'. There is a reference to "Wynandermer" in 1396.

Governance

Windermere was from 1894 to 1974 governed by an urban district council which in 1905 absorbed the former Bowness-on-Windermere UDC although Bowness remained a separate

until 1974. Windermere UDC had slight boundary changes in 1934 and was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 replacing it with South Lakeland District Council. The Windermere coat of arms was commissioned in 1968 and designed by local schoolgirl, Sheila West.

Transport

Windermere railway station was built in 1847 and was the reason the town was established. The station serves trains run by Northern to Oxenholme on the

. There are also services that run on further to Manchester Airport. The town is near the A591, a major road running through the Lake District from Kendal to Keswick.

Education

There are three primary schools located in the town. Secondary education is provided by The Lakes School (state) and Windermere School (independent, ages 2–18), both of which are located on the outskirts.

Notable People

* Thomas Gardner (born 1996) - filmmaker."Award-winning film shot by Cumbrian man"
''CumbriaCrack''. 5 April 2022

References

External links

Windermere Town Council Cumbria County History Trust: Windermere and BownessThe Cumbria Directory - Windermere
{{Authority control Towns in Cumbria Westmorland Civil parishes in Cumbria