Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Nag's Head Inn, Wythburn


	Nag's Head Inn, Wythburn
	Nag's Head Inn
	Horses Head
locality:-	Wythburn
civil parish:-	St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn (formerly Cumberland)
county:-	Cumbria
locality type:-	inn (demolished)
coordinates:-	NY32381361
1Km square:-	NY3213
10Km square:-	NY31
references:-	Parker 2002

evidence:-	old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 70 16) placename:- Nag's Head Inn
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:-	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 110:- "... the road passes between the Inn and the Chapel of Wythburn; about eight miles and a half from Ambleside, and the same distance from Keswick. ..."

evidence:-	descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) placename:- Horse Head Inn
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 45:- "..." "... The Horse Head inn is an excellent resting-place, and a guide, at a moderate charge, can be obtained here for the ascent of Helvellyn, which is most easily accomplished from this place. Whilst the luncheon is preparing, let the tourist take a look at the little chapel on the opposite side of the road;" goto source Page 164:- "..." "Wythburn Chapel.- Opposite to this is the Horse Head Inn, the half-way house between Ambleside and Keswick. A guide may be obtained here for ascending Helvellyn, which is most accessible hence."

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 68:- "..." "At the Nag's Head, the little inn which is about a mile and a-quarter further on, the traveller must decide on one of three courses,- as politicians are wont to do. He may go up Helvellyn, or he may bowl along on the high road, straight through Legberthwaite, and immediately under Helvellyn; or he may go on foot, or on a pony, round the western side of the lake, ..."

evidence:-	old print:- Bogg 1898 placename:- Nags Head
source data:-	Print, engraving, Nags Head, Wythburn, St John's Castlerigg and Wythburn, Cumberland, by A Haselgrave, 1897, published by Edmund Bogg, 3 Woodhouse Lane, and James Miles, Guildford Street, Leeds, Yorkshire, 1898. click to enlarge BGG159.jpg Included on p.171 of Lakeland and Ribblesdale, by Edmund Bogg. item:- JandMN : 231.59 Image © see bottom of page

	CCU70.jpg Charabancs outside the Nag's Head. CCU73.jpg Wythburn Chapel, Nag's Head, and the school; behind the inn is Low Horse Head.

notes:-	Canon H D Rawnsley wrote, 1894:-
	"The latest bit of modern Manchester improvement suggested, is the pulling down of that old "Horse-Head Inn" just opposite the church [Wythburn Chapel]. No matter if Keats slept there; if Matthew Arnold described it in his poem Resignation; if Coleridge and Wordsworth often rested there; if Christopher North joked there. A brand-new hotel will be in keeping with ... the re-arrangement of the scenery herabout; ours is an age of progress and good drains. The sanitary officer of the city has been at work on the Nag's Head drains and has condemned them."
	"Shades of Gray, and Hartley Coleridge, of Wilson of Elleray, of Matthew Arnold rise up and protest. ..."
	"It is only fair to put on record that the Manchester Waterworks' Committee, have, we understand, abandoned the idea of pulling down the Horse-Head, and will allow that picturesque group of buildings at Wythburn with its many memories and associations to remain, eventhugh it serves no longer as a House of Call. ..."
	Rawnsley 1894

notes:-	At the time it was the Horse Head it is said that the innsign was painted by George Romney.
	Baron 1925

hearsay:-	Closed as an inn, 1930; it was workers' accommodation until 1966, then taken down.

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