|
BUTTERMERE
Is a mile and a quarter long, half a mile broad, and about
fifteen fathoms in depth. It is situated in a valley of its
own name, and is encompassed by superb rocky mountains.
Buttermere Moss and Robinson bound it on the east; the Hay
Stacks, High Crag, High Stile, and Red Pike, on the west;
and the north end or outlet is separated from Crummock Water
by a fertile plain of meadows.
The chapel of ease is a small ancient building, scarcely
capable of holding more than two score souls. 'A man must be
very insensible who would not be touched with pleasure at
the site of this chapel, so strikingly expressing by its
diminutive size, how small must be the congregation there
assembled,as it were, like one family; and proclaiming at
the same time to the passenger, in connection with the
surrounding mountains, the depth of that seclusion in which
the people live that has rendered necessary the building of
a separate place of worship for so few. The edifice is
scarcely larger than many of the single stones or fragments
of rock which are scattered near it.'
|