Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is a lake in 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 ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

, immediately south of Keswick. It is in the unitary authority of

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 ...

within the ceremonial county 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 ...

. It is the third largest lake by area, after

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

and

Ullswater Ullswater is a glacial lake in Cumbria, England and part of the Lake District National Park. It is the second largest lake in the region by both area and volume, after Windermere. The lake is about long, wide, and has a maximum depth of . I ...

. It has a length of , a maximum width of , and an area of . Its primary inflow and outflow is the River Derwent, which also flows through

Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is a body of water in the Lake District in North West England, near the town of Keswick. It has an area of , making the fourth largest of the lakes in the region. The lake has a length of approximately long and maximum wid ...

before reaching the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

. There are several islands within the lake, one of which is inhabited. Derwentwater is a place of considerable scenic value. It is surrounded by hills (known locally as fells), and many of the slopes facing Derwentwater are extensively wooded. A regular passenger launch operates on the lake, taking passengers between various landing stages. There are seven lakeside marinas, the most popular stops being Keswick, Portinscale and the Lodore Falls, from which boats may be hired. Recreational walking is a major tourist activity in the area and there is an extensive network of footpaths in the hills and woods surrounding the lake. The Keswick to Borrowdale road runs along the eastern shore of the lake and carries a regular bus service. There is a lesser, or unclassified, road along the western shore connecting the villages of Grange and Portinscale. Derwentwater gave its name to the Earldom of Derwentwater. From 2008 to 2014, the lake was believed to be the last remaining native habitat of the vendace (''Coregonus vandesius'') fish from the four originally known sites:

and Derwentwater in the

, and the Castle Loch & Mill Loch in

Lochmaben Lochmaben () is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th century, Edward I of Engl ...

. However, a breeding population was discovered at Bassenthwaite Lake by conservationists in September 2014. The lake (and many others) is polluted with the invasive New Zealand Pigmyweed.

Etymology

'Derwent' is " '(River) with oak trees', traditionally explained from Brit." (i.e.: Brythonic Celtic) or Old Welsh, " 'derwā' 'oak' plus suffixes, hence of the same origin as other English rivers named Derwent, Darwen, Darent and Dart...The river gave its name to Derwent Water (which was also known as the 'Lake of Derwent', 'Keswick Lake', or 'Keswick Water' in the 18th-19th centuries)...". Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'."

Derwentwater's islands

There are numerous islands in Derwentwater, the largest being Derwent Island, Lord's Island, St Herbert's Island, Rampsholme Island, Park Neb, Otter Island and Otterbield Island. There is a house on Derwent Island. St. Herbert's Island is named after a 7th-century hermit priest; Herbert of Derwentwater.

In art and literature

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. Landon's writings are emblematic of the transition from Romanticism to Victorian literature. Her first major b ...

's poetical illustration ''Derwent Water'' is attached to a plate of ''Derwent Water, from the Castle Head, Cumberland'' (artist

Thomas Allom Thomas Allom (13 March 1804 – 21 October 1872) was an English architect, artist, and topographical view, topographical illustrator. He was a founding member of what became the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He designed many bui ...

) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1837.

In popular culture

A slightly cropped and colour hue-edited real photo with an open view of the Derwentwater was used by

Team Silent Team Silent was a development team within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET), responsible for the first four games in the ''Silent Hill'' franchise by Konami released from 1999 to 2004. Later titles were developed by non-Japanese companie ...

as a backdrop image at the very beginning of the

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

's " Silent Hill 2" video game, to serve as a higher ground touristic observational viewpoint of the fictional "Toluca Lake" (not to be confused with

Toluca Lake, Los Angeles Toluca Lake is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. The name is also given to a private natural lake fed by wells and maintained by neighboring ...

) in the local area encompassing the fictional eponymous town of "

Silent Hill is a horror media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four main games—'' Silent Hill'', '' Silent Hill 2'', '' Silent Hill 3'', and '' Silent Hill 4: The ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Derwentwater was used in the 2018 video game

Forza Horizon 4 ''Forza Horizon 4'' is a 2018 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released on 2 October 2018 for Windows and Xbox One after being announced at Xbox's E3 2018 conference. An enhanced versio ...

. The album artwork for the 2010 album Black Sands by

Bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the other bei ...

features a photograph taken of Derwentwater. The tower in the background is located in Castlerigg (54°35′29.95″N 3°7′3.43″WCoordinates: 54°35′29.95″N 3°7′3.43″W). On his album ''Republic of Geordieland'', singer-songwriter Richard Dawson has a song titled "Derwentwater Farewell." Derwentwater was used as the principal location for the planet Takodana in the sci fi movie sequel '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''.

Panoramas

Gallery

File:Derwent Water from Cat Bells, Lake District.jpg, From

Cat Bells Cat Bells is a fell in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. It has a height of and is one of the most popular fells in the area. It is situated on the western shore of Derwentwater within of the busy tourist town of Keswick. ...

File:Derwentwater (DSCF8800).jpg, Keswick ferry terminal File:Derwent Water with mist.jpg File:Canoes at Derwent Water.jpg, Some canoes and a dock at the edge of Derwent Water

References

External links

Lakes Derwenwater GuideRobin Pecknold - "Derwentwater stones"
{{authority control Cumberland Lakes of the Lake District LDerwentwater Cumberland (unitary authority)