Online Fellwalking Club - The Lakes of the English Lake District

The Lakes of the English Lake District

Written by Paul Rose

Thursday, 02 July 2009

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Thirlmere

Most people agree that there are sixteen lakes in the Lake District although this can be misinterpreted as there is only one named lake i.e. Bassenthwaite Lake. All the rest are either meres i.e. Windermere, or waters i.e. Derwentwater. To confuse matters further, the word "mere" actually means "lake" so for sanity's sake, I think it'll be easier to agree on sixteen lakes! (Brothers' Water, 17? PB).
There are many other pieces of water scattered around the Lake District and these are known as tarns. Although some tarns are bigger than one of the so-called lakes, most of the tarns, however, are very small, and some are not even named.
The sixteen lakes are listed below:
Bassenthwaite Lake - Grid Reference NY220290

Bassenthwaite Lake

Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest at four miles long and threequarters of a mile wide and one of the shallowest at 70 ft. It is the most northerly of the lakes and is home to a rare and endangered fish species called the vendace. This fish is only found in Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwentwater.
Buttermere - Grid Reference NY180160
Buttermere - the lake by the dairy pastures - is one and a half miles long, three quarters of a mile wide and 75 feet deep.
Coniston Water - Grid Reference SD305950

Coniston Water

At five and a quarter miles long, half a mile wide and with a maximum depth of 184 feet, Coniston Water is the third largest of the lakes. It also has three small islands.
Crummock Water - Grid Reference NY155190
Crummock Water is situated between Loweswater and Buttermere. It
is two and a half miles long, three quarters of a mile wide and 144 feet deep.
Derwentwater - Grid Reference NY260200

Derwenwater

Derwentwater is 3 miles long, 1 mile wide and 72 feet deep. The lake also has four islands.
Elterwater - Grid Reference NY335040
Elterwater - lake of the swans - is only half a mile long and, therefore, the smallest of the sixteen lakes. Silt is building up around the shoreline, which is reducing the size of the lake. This will lead, eventually to the lake disappearing completely.
Ennerdale Water - Grid Reference NY110150

Ennerdale Water

Ennerdale is the most westerly of the lakes, and the most remote. Its two and a half miles long, three quarters of a mile wide and 148 feet deep. The water is very clear, and contains a variety of fish.
Esthwaite Water - Grid Reference SD360965
Esthwaite Water - the lake by the eastern clearing - is one and a half miles long and nearly half a mile wide.

Grasmere - Grid Reference NY340065
Grasmere is 1 mile long, half a mile wide and 75 feet deep.

Haweswater - Grid Reference NY480140
Four miles long and 198 feet deep (when full). The village of Mardale Green lies beneath the waters of Haweswater Reservoir when the valley was flooded in 1940. The lake is also home to a rare silvery fish known as a schelly (skelly).

Loweswater - Grid Reference NY125215

Loweswater

Situated in the far west of the Lake District and is approximately 1 mile in length, half a mile wide and 60 feet deep.

Rvdal Water - Grid Reference NY355062
Rydal Water is the second smallest of the sixteen lakes at three quarters of a mile long, quarter of a mile wide and with a depth of 55 feet.

Thirlmere - Grid Reference NX310170
Thirlmere is three and a half miles long and almost one and a quarter miles wide and 158 feet deep. It was originally two smaller lakes before the area was dammed and the water level raised. The villages of Armboth and Wythburn now lie beneath its waters.

Ullswater - Grid Reference NY440205
Ullswater is the second largest lake at seven and a half miles long, and on average, three quarters of a mile wide and with a maximum depth of 205 feet. The lake has three distinct reaches. The water is clear and is home to a silvery fish called the schelly (skelly) which resides in the deepest parts of the lake.

Wastwater - Grid Reference NY160060

Wast Water

It is 3 miles long, half a mile wide and 258 feet deep, and the deepest of all the lakes. The lake was once known as Broadwater.

Windermere - Grid Reference SD395960

Windermere

Windermere, at twelve miles long, one mile wide and 220 feet deep, is the largest natural lake in England. The lake is almost divided in the middle by Belle Isle the largest of the lake's fourteen islands.

Paul Rose

Paul and Peter

This article was originally written by Paul Rose for issue 1 of The Lost Sheep under the title 'The Lakes of the English Lake District'. Paul was a founder member of the OFC and attended the first recognised OFC meet in Eskdale at the latter end of F&M.

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