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Kentmere Tarn
runs into:-    Kent, River
civil parish:-   Kentmere (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   tarn
coordinates:-   NY45510291 (etc) 
1Km square:-   NY4502
10Km square:-   NY40
altitude:-   489 feet
altitude:-   149m

photograph
BRK10.jpg (taken 9.9.2009)  
photograph
BPT01.jpg  From the south.
(taken 17.20.2008)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 27 13) 
placename:-  Kentmere Tarn
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
evidence:-   old map:- Morden 1695 (Wmd) 
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by Robert Morden, published by Abel Swale, the Unicorn, St Paul's Churchyard, Awnsham, and John Churchill, the Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, 1695.
image
MD10NY40.jpg
Outline with shore shading, tinted blue. 
item:-  JandMN : 24
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Badeslade 1742
placename:-  
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, A Map of Westmorland North from London, scale about 10 miles to 1 inch, with descriptive text, by Thomas Badeslade, London, engraved and published by William Henry Toms, Union Court, Holborn, London, 1742.
image  click to enlarge
BD12.jpg
""
outline with form lines 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.62
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Simpson 1746 map (Wmd) 
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 8 miles to 1 inch, printed by R Walker, Fleet Lane, London, 1746.
image
SMP2NYK.jpg
Outline with form lines. 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.59
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Bowen and Kitchin 1760
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A New Map of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland Divided into their Respective Wards, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin et al, published by T Bowles, Robert Sayer, and John Bowles, London, 1760.
image
BO18SD39.jpg
outline with form lines 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.10
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd) 
placename:-  Tarn, The
source data:-   Map, 4 sheets, The County of Westmoreland, scale 1 inch to 1 mile, surveyed 1768, and engraved and published by Thomas Jefferys, London, 1770.
image
J5NY40SE.jpg
"The Tarn"
outline with form lines; lake or tarn 
item:-  National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Image © National Library of Scotland
evidence:-   old map:- West 1784 map
placename:-  Kentmere Tarn
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A Map of the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, engraved by Paas, 53 Holborn, London, about 1784.
image
Ws02NY40.jpg
"Kentmere tarn"
item:-  Armitt Library : A1221.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Cary 1789 (edn 1805) 
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Cary, London, 1789; edition 1805.
image
CY24NY40.jpg
"Tarn"
outline with shore form lines; lake or tarn 
item:-  JandMN : 129
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Aikin 1790 (Wmd) 
placename:-  
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmoreland ie Westmorland, scale about 8.5 miles to 1 inch, by John Aikin, London, 1790.
image  click to enlarge
AIK2.jpg
""
outline with form lines; lake 
item:-  JandMN : 51
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Cooke 1802
placename:-  Kentmere Tarn
source data:-   Map, The Lakes, Westmorland and Cumberland, scale about 8.5 miles to 1 inch, engravedby Neele and Son, published by Sherwood, Jones and Co, Paternoster Road, London, 1824.
image  click to enlarge
GRA1Lk.jpg
"Kentmere Tarn"
outline with form lines; lake or tarn 
item:-  Hampshire Museums : FA2000.62.5
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Cooke 1802
source data:-   Map, Westmoreland ie Westmorland, scale about 12 miles to 1 inch, by George Cooke, 1802, published by Sherwood, Jones and Co, Paternoster Road, London, 1824.
image  click to enlarge
GRA1Wd.jpg
outline with form lines; lake or tarn 
item:-  Hampshire Museums : FA2000.62.4
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Laurie and Whittle 1806
placename:-  Tarn, The
source data:-   Road map, Completion of the Roads to the Lakes, scale about 10 miles to 1 inch, by Nathaniel Coltman? 1806, published by Robert H Laurie, 53 Fleet Street, London, 1834.
image  click to enlarge
Lw18.jpg
"The Tarn"
lake 
item:-  private collection : 18.18
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Cooper 1808
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmoreland ie Westmorland, scale about 9 miles to 1 inch, by H Cooper, 1808, published by R Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, 1808.
image  click to enlarge
COP4.jpg
outline, shaded; lake 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.53
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Wallis 1810
placename:-  Kent Mere
source data:-   Map, Westmoreland, scale about 19 miles to 1 inch, and Cumberland, scale about 16 miles to 1 inch, by James Wallis, 77 Berwick Street, Soho, London, 1810; published 1810-36.
"... The Ken rises from a lake called Kent Mere, near Ambleside, ..."
evidence:-   old map:- Otley 1818
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, The District of the Lakes, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Jonathan Otley, 1818, engraved by J and G Menzies, Edinburgh, Scotland, published by Jonathan Otley, Keswick, Cumberland, et al, 1833.
image
OT02NY40.jpg
item:-  JandMN : 48.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
source data:-   Guide book, A Concise Description of the English Lakes, the mountains in their vicinity, and the roads by which they may be visited, with remarks on the mineralogy and geology of the district, by Jonathan Otley, published by the author, Keswick, Cumberland now Cumbria, by J Richardson, London, and by Arthur Foster, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, 1823; published 1823-49, latterly as the Descriptive Guide to the English Lakes.
image OT01P036, button  goto source
Page 36:-  "Kentmere Tarn, in the vale of Kentmere, bordered by morass, and Skeggles Water ... are neither of them possessed of any striking features."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Kenntmere Tarn
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P159, button  goto source
Page 159:-  "..."
"Kentmere Tarn is in a narrow vale, about two miles in length. The Tarn is one mile long, and cannot be approached except at one point, owing to the swampiness of its margin. ..."
evidence:-   old map:- Ford 1839 map
placename:-  Kent Mere Tarn
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Lake District of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, and by R Groombridge, 5 Paternoster Row, London, 3rd edn 1843.
image
FD02NY40.jpg
"Kent Mere Tarn"
Outline with form lines. 
item:-  JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Martineau 1855
source data:-   Guide book, A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855; published 1855-76.
image MNU1P175, button  goto source
Page 175:-  "... If familiar with the old description of the district, he will look for Kentmere Tarn, and wonder to see no trace of it. It is drained away; and fertile fields now occupy the place of the swamp, reeds and shallow water which he might have seen but a few years ago. While this tarn existed, the mills at Kendal were very irregularly supplied with water. ..."

photograph
BPT02.jpg  South end.
(taken 17.20.2008)  
hearsay:-  
 There was a shallow lake, made by an ice dam, at the end of the last ice age, south of Millriggs. It was drained 1840. The deposits of diatomite, diatomaceous earth, were mined for insulation products into the 20th century. The flooded workings became the present Kentmere Tarn which is not centred in quite the same place as the old glacial lake.
In 1955 and 1959 the Cape Asbestos Co, working for diatomite, found four dugout boats, dated to the 14th century. The best one is in the National Maritime Museum, other pieces are in Kendal Museum.

photograph
CFX96.jpg  (Kendal Museum)
(taken 20.3.2017)  
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