Old Cumbria Gazetteer - viewpoint, Castlerigg


included in:-	Derwent Water
included in:-	Bassenthwaite Lake
	viewpoint, Castlerigg
site name:-	Castlerigg
civil parish:-	St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn (formerly Cumberland)
county:-	Cumbria
locality type:-	viewpoint
1Km square:-	NY2822
10Km square:-	NY22

evidence:-	descriptive text:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821)
source data:-	Guide book, A Guide to the Lakes, by Thomas West, published by William Pennington, Kendal, Cumbria once Westmorland, and in London, 1778 to 1821. goto source Page 85:- "..." "The road now winds to the left, by Smalthwaite-bridge, and ascends Naddle-fell, by Causeway-foot to Castle-rigg. At the turn of the hill, and within about a mile of Keswick, you come at once in sight of its glorious vale, with all its noble environs, and enchanting scenes, which, when Mr. Gray beheld, it almost determined him to return to Keswick again, and repeat his tour." goto source Page 86:- "'I left Keswick,' says he, 'and took the Ambleside road, in a gloomy morning, and about two miles (or rather about a mile) from the town, mounted an eminence called Castle-rig, and, the sun breaking out, discovered the most enchanting view I have yet seen, of the whole valley behind me; the two lakes, the river, the mountains in all their glory; so that I had almost a mind to have gone back again.' This is certainly a most ravishing morning view, of the bird's eye kind. For here we have, seen in all their beauty, a circuit of twenty miles; two Lakes, Derwent and Bassenthwaite, and the river serpentizing between them; the town of Keswick and the church of Crosthwaite in the central points; an extensive fertile plain, and all the stupendous mountains that surround this delicious spot." goto source Addendum; Mr Gray's Journal, 1769 Page 210:- "..." "Oct. 8. I left Keswick, and took the Ambleside road, in a gloomy morning: about two miles (rather a mile) from the town, mounted an eminence called Castle-rigg, and the sun breaking out discovered the most enchanting view I have yet seen of the whole valley behind me, the two lakes, the river, the mountains, all in their glory; so that I had almost a mind to have gone back again. ..."

evidence:-	old text:- Clarke 1787
source data:-	Guide book, A Survey of the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, written and published by James Clarke, Penrith, Cumberland, and in London etc, 1787; published 1787-93. goto source Page 105:- "..." "... Mr Gray; when he left Keswick and travelled towards Ambleside, was very much pleased with the view [as from Brow Top], but did not discover it till he came at the winding turn at Castrigg; if he had looked about him at Brow-top, he had seen more of the Lakes, and the objects would not have appeared so diminutive, as when he was more elevated: his words are, "Mounted on an eminence called Castlerigg, and the sun breaking out, I discovered the most enchanting view I have yet seen of the whole valley behind me. The two lakes, the river, the mountains, all in their glory; so that I had almost a mind to have gone back." There is certainly a most enchanting view, as he says (but of the bird's-eye kind.) Here are seen the mountains of Borrowdale, Newlands, and Skiddow, and if they be (as he says,) viewed in a morning just as the sun-beams fall upon their tops, it makes them appear of a golden hue: below that, the gloomy woods and azure lakes, with Mr Pocklington's white house in the midst of Derwent-Lake; Crossthwaite-church, Mr Brownrigg's Mr Fisher's; the several white cottages spotting the verdant scene, and the smoke arising perpendicular from the town of Keswick in a calm morning. This view even the clown himself cannot but admire, though so accustomed to it; how much more pleasing then to the delicate and cultivated fancy of the learned and curious, who perhaps never before saw such a paradise of natural beauty."

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag placename:- Castle Rigg
source data:-	Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922. goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1011 "... On Castle Rigg, an eminence, distant about a mile from Keswick, we rested to examine the prospect which has been distinguished by the rapturous encomiums of Mr. Gray. It is a bird's-eye view of the vale, discovering a large extent of variegated enclosure, to the exclusion of those points from which is derived its particular and prominent character." "Of the Lake of Derwent by much the finer part lies concealed; the poor town of Keswick is an unassimilated and discordant feature in the bottom; nor is there any picture in the naked object of Crossthwaite church. The"

evidence:-	old text:- Gents Mag 1805
source data:-	goto source Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1012 "river, however, it must be admitted, is creative of considerable interest in its vagaries from Lake to Lake. Skiddaw rears his giant head at a respectful point of distance, and the lower boundary of Bassenthwaite Lake, which is naked and uniteresting beyond description, is happily shut out from the view. But, indeed, the fervour of composition appears in this instance to have a little overstepped the modesty of Nature."

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. goto source Page 111:- "...The Keswick road inclines to the left, and surmounting the cultivated ridge called Castlerigg, there is a full view of Derwent Lake, with part of that of Bassenthwaite, the town and vale of Keswick, with its surrounding mountains. It was here, that Mr. Gray on leaving Keswick, found the scene so enchanting, that he 'had almost a mind to have gone back again.'"

evidence:-	descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843)
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. goto source Page 50:- "... The stranger now arrives at Castle Rigg Brow, from whence a prospect, which the last few miles of dreary desolation had not led him to count upon, bursts upon his gladdened sight. The gleaming waters of Bassenthwaite shine amid the well-wooded and highly-cultivated valley, which extends from that lake to the town of Keswick. Crosthwaite church, with innumerable seats, villages, and cottages, lie interspersed" goto source Page 51:- "throughout the rich and glowing plain. On the south and west, Bassenthwaite is bounded by the craggy tops stretching from Grizedale Pike to the cultivated lands beyond Wythop Woods, and the widely-extended vale is sheltered by Skiddaw on the north. The view expands as you descend to Brow Top, whence the eye takes in Derwent Water and the Borrowdale mountains at its head."

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. goto source Page 71:- "... the traveller ... must not miss that view from Castlerigg, which made the poet Gray long to go back again to Keswick; ... the view opens, which presently comprehends the whole extent from Bassenthwaite Lake to the entrance of Borrowdale,- the plain between the two lakes of Bassenthwaite and Derwent Water, presenting one of the richest scenes in England,- with the town of Keswick, and many a hamlet and farmstead besides; ... Skiddaw is here the monarch of the scene. That mountain mass occupies the north of the view. Bassenthwaite lake peeps from behind it: then the plain of the Derwent" goto source Page 72:- "stretches out to the lake of that name; and at the southern end the Borrowdale mountains are grouped with wonderful effect,- Castle Crag occupying the most conspicuous place. On the eastern side, to the left of the spectator, Wallabarrow Crag rears its crest, and unfolds its woods below; while the opposite side of the lake is guarded by Cat Bells and other mountains, bare and pointed, and possessing a character of their own. ..."

	indexing
person:-	author : West, Thomas
place:-	Derwent Water / Bassenthwaite Lake
date:-	1778
period:-	18th century, late
period:-	1780s
item:-	guide book; Guide to the Lakes

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