Gents Mag 1799 p.643

---

	introduction
	list, 4th qtr 18th century
	previous page next page
	Gentleman's Magazine 1799 p.643 [whatso]ever of it in print; and the reason why it has not been mentioned by any of the numerous tourists through Craven in Yorkshire, and to the Lakes, I apprehend it no difficult matter to account for. There are two routes to the lakes; one by the way of Lancaster, through Craven, which is beginning the Lakes at the western end; and the other lies through Brough and Appleby, which enters upon them by Penrith, at the Eastern extremity. Now, Kirby Stephen lies nearly in the middle of a most dreadful cross-road, of about 40 miles, which connects these two tracks to the Lakes, and runs along the South of Westmorland, almost forming the boundary between that county and Yorkshire. The bad state of this road, and the exorbitant demands for toll at all turnpikes, are of themselves sufficient evidence of its desolate and unfrequented state. It was my fortune to visit these Lakes with a friend last Summer, and we entered upon the tour at Penrith, and terminated it at Ambleside and Kendal. In returning, we determined to take the cross-road I have above described, and accordingly travelled from Kendal to Brough. Upon stopping at Kirkby Stephen, to refresh ourselves, we enquired of the landlord of the inn if there was any thing in the place or its neighbourhood deserving the attention of strangers. Our host, who was rather a sensible fellow, told us that there was this natural curiosity at Stankthred Bridge, which was about half a mile from his house, and which some few solitary travellers had occasionally visited. We were accordingly soon furnished with a guide to the spot; and such was our impatience, that we reached it in a few minutes. This phaenomenon consists of the bed of a river, formed entirely of rocks, of different strata of white stone, rather level on their surface, as if worn with water. The stream, which in Summer is very slender and small, runs from North to South, not over this bed of rocks, but through a passage or fissure in the middle of it, from about a foot to a yard wide in different places, but extending in depth to the bottom of the rocks. In Winter, when the torrents descend from the mountains, their surfaces are of course quite overflowed. I was much pleased with tracing the course of the stream as it rushed along its narrow channel. It was, in some places, ten or fiftenn feet below the surface of the rock; and, at other places, was obliged to spread itself, in order to find a passage, thence descending in fine cascades, one of which, near the bridge, descended a perpendicular height of near twenty feet into a large basin formed in the rock, with great noise and grandeur. These waterfalls proceed not only from the different number of strata in different parts of the bed of the river, but are likewise, in a great degree, occasioned by the nature of the country, which is uncommonly mountainous, a high ridge of mountains running all along the Southern boundary of Westmorland, down which rush several streams in different places, and this one amongst the rest. I walked along the bed of this river over the tops of these rocks, and they seemed to me (judging form the fissure along which the water ran) to be about thirty of forty feet thick. The breadth of this bed of stone was nearly the same, and extended in length about a quarter of a mile. If this sort of appearance presented itself in Italy instead of England, no naturalist would hesitate a moment to determine it the effect of some volcanic eruption. It has every feature which marks the character of a torrent of lava, rushing into the bed of a river, and filling up the space it occupied. It is also extraordinary to accunt for the manner in which the stream has worked its passage through this bed of intruding lava, particularly as the distance is so great; to effect which, there is no doubt that it must have required many ages. For my own part, when I combine the appearance of this bed of lava with the shape of the mountain which overlooks Stankthred Bridge and the town of Kirby Stephen, I have no doubt that it is the eruption of some volcano, and that the mountain, instead of discharging a stream of water as at present, has formerly poured from its bosom a torrent of liquid fire, the remains of which are now seen. This will not appear so extraordinary, when we consider that it has long been a fact ascertained by naturalists, that calcined rocks, pumice-stone, and lava, the undoubted vestiges of volcanos, are not peculiar to any country or climate. They have been discovered in France, Germany, the West Indies, and the islands in the South Seas. There are even as many proofs of the existence of extinguished
	eruptions
	next page
	gazetteer links
	-- Coopkarnal Hole (?)
	-- Kendal to Kirkby Stephen

Lakes Guides menu.

---