Loweswater is one of the smaller
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s in the English
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 ...
. 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
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 ...
. The group of
fell
A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
s to the south of Loweswater is known as the Loweswater Fells and consists of
Mellbreak,
Gavel Fell,
Blake Fell,
Hen Comb and
Burnbank Fell. To the north of the lake lies the
Fellbarrow range.
The lake is unusual in the radial drainage pattern of the Lake District in draining towards the centre of the Lake District: its outfall, Dub Beck, becomes Park Beck and runs east or south-east into the north end of
Crummock Water, close to that lake's exit. By way of the
River Cocker and
River Derwent, Loweswater's contents eventually reach the sea at
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 ...
.
The immediate vicinity of Loweswater consists mainly of rolling hills, in contrast to the rocky
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
s found elsewhere in the Lake District (though Mellbreak, part of the Loweswater Fells, is steep and craggy). Loweswater remains relatively untouched by tourism, and is much quieter than the neighbouring lakes,
Buttermere and Crummock Water. There is, however, a popular lakeside path, which goes right round the lake. The south side of the lake is the site of Holme Wood, a small forest. Within this forest is Holme Force, a waterfall of great beauty, which is rarely visited as it is not noticeable from the lakeside path. A road follows the north side of the lake, which links the A5086 with the Lorton Vale.
Etymology
"This is usually assumed (e.g. 'PN Cumb'
) to be 'the leafy lake' (ON 'laufsær', preserved in various instances of Swed
sh'Lövsjö(n)'), with the explanatory 'wæter'/'water' 'lake' added later"
Sport and leisure
Loweswater is owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
. Rowing boats can be rented to use on the lake but use of one's own boat is not allowed. Recently the National Trust has done much work on the north side of the lakeside path, cutting down trees to improve views across the lake.
Every year Loweswater is the venue for th
Loweswater show which features traditional
Cumbrian sports and has competitions to win farmers' produce
References
External links
visitcumbria.com ''Loweswater''cockermouth.org.uk ''Loweswater Lake''
{{authority control
Lakes of the Lake District
Loweswater (village)
Cumberland