button to main menu  Clarke's Survey of the Lakes, 1787

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Page 62:-
  Castlerigg Stone Circle
  Druids

About a quarter of a mile farther on the left is Castrigg, or Castle-Rigg: here is a druidical monument, consisting of a circle of fifty-two large stones. This temple (as they all commonly get that name) differs from all I have seen, in having on the Eastern side an inclosure formed within the circle; this inclosure is on the form of an oblong-square, one of the shorter sides of which is formed by part of the circle, and its dimensions are nearly four yards by two.
It is amazing how our rude forefathers could remove such large stones, and place them in regular order! The stones of which this is composed are of a kind not to be found within many miles of this place; it is situated upon a steep hill, and we know they were unacquainted with, not only the use of every mechanic power, but even of carriages: had they even known these, we know of no carriage capable of transporting, or even bearing the weight of these enormous masses.
  Greta, River
  Vale of Keswick

Descending Fieldside-brow, view the noble amphitheatre of KESWICK, which from this place affords an excellent bird's-eye view, but not so good as from Castrigg, as the town does not appear to advantage from hence; the reflection of the sun from the water about one o'clock adds much to the beauty of this view. Now descend the hill; the road winds along the banks of the river Greeta, which contains the waters of Trout-Beck, Glendower-Meckine, Wanthwaite-Beck, Glendoweratera and Naddle-Beck. This river (which is here a very considerable stream) has its bottom covered with very large stones, under which fish of various kinds take shelter; here they are secure from nets, and afford excellent diversion to the angler. Salmon follow the course of this river as far as Flaskeu, so that it is well stocked with smelts, brandlings, and salmon-trouts. There are also taken in this river large quantities of what they call here Bass-bruid, from their resemblance to the perch, or bass; this fish is seldom more than three inches in length, and sometimes caught in the quantity of two or three pecks by one single person.
  smelting house, copper
On the banks of this river, about half a mile from Keswick, have been several buildings, but hardly any tradition concerning their history. It is evident, however, that here has been a smelting mill for copper. A few years ago the surveyors of the high roads having set some men to repair this road, they found some pieces of copper ore, which was extremely rich; upon this men were employed to dig out and dress the slag which they found here, and which paid very well for their work. The walls of the old houses are now standing, and are four or five feet high. As it was commonly believed that the copper was brought from Newlands, some persons undertook a work there with very sanguine expectations: they made their trials on a hill called Goldscalp; but after a considerable waste of time and money, met with nothing. The only tradition I ever met with concerning these was from Benjamin Grisdale, a man near an hundred years old; he told me that he had heard his father say, that a company of Dutchmen wrought Newland Fells for copper; that they built a mill and some houses here, which went by the name of the Dutch Huts, and where they extracted gold from the copper: that they kept their works very secret; and, as they always spoke their own language, no one understood them. They staid till the place was not worth the working. This place shared the fate of most parts of this country, A.D. 1641, being burnt and destroyed. Inquire at Keswick for the Dutch Huts, and scarce any one can give you any intelligence concerning them. - A few minutes ow (sic) will convey us to Keswick, as the distance is very short, and nothing worth seeing by the way.
KESWICK
gazetteer links
button -- Castlerigg Stone Circle
button -- "Glendower Meckine" -- Glenderamackin, River
button -- "Glendoweratera" -- Glenderaterra Beck
button -- "Greeta, River" -- Greta, River
button -- (Keswick Smelting House, Keswick)
button -- "Naddle Beck" -- Naddle Beck
button -- "Wanthwaite Beck" -- St John's Beck
button -- "Trout Beck" -- Trout Beck
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