Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Lodore Falls, Borrowdale

Lodore Falls, Borrowdale

Lodore Falls

site name:-

Watendlath Beck

locality:-

Lodore

civil parish:-

Borrowdale (formerly Cumberland)

county:-

Cumbria

locality type:-

waterfall

coordinates:-

NY26511873

1Km square:-

NY2618

10Km square:-

NY21

BLU01.jpg Along with other commentators, we found this fall unimpressive.
(taken 3.4.2006)

We've never been lucky enough to see it in spate!

evidence:-

old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 70 2)
placename:- Lowdore Cascade

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:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall
placename:- Lowdore

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.

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Page 92:- "... Here Gowdar-crag presents itself in all its terrible majesty of rock, ... Above this is seen a towering grey rock, rising ma-"

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Page 93:- "[ma]jestically rude, and near it, Shuttenoer, a spiral rock not less in height, hanging more forward over its base. Betwixt these, an awful chasm is formed, through which the waters of Watanlath are hurled. This is the Niagara of the lake, the renowned cataract of Lowdore [1]. To see this, ascend to an opening in the grove, directly over the mill. It is the misfortune of this celebrated water-fall to fail entirely in a dry season. ..."
"[1] I do not know that the height of this cataract has been ascertained, but when viewing it, the reader may like to have it recalled to his mind, that Carver says, the fall of Niagara does not exceed 140 feet."

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Addendum; From Dr. Dalton's descriptive poem enumerating the Beauties of the Vale of Keswick, about 1775
Page 197:- "..."
"Let other streams rejoice to roar / Down the rough rocks of dread Lowdore, / Rush raving on with bois'trous sweep, / And foaming rend the 'frighted deep, ..."

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Page 198:- "..."
"Horrors like these at first alarm, / But soon with savage grandeur charm, / And raise to noblest thoughts the mind; / Thus by thy fall, Lowdore, reclin'd, / The craggy cliff, impendant wood, / Whose shadows mix o'er half the flood, / The gloomy clouds with solemn sail, / Scarce lifted by the languid gale, / O'er the capp'd hill, and dark'ned vale:- ..."

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Addendum; Mr Gray's Journal, 1769
Page 204:- "... we turned aside into a coppice, ascending a little in front of Lowdore water-fall: the height appeared to be about 200 feet, the quantity of water not great, though (these three days excepted) it hath rained daily for near two months before; but then the stream was nobly broken, leaping from rock to rock, and foaming with fury. On one side a towering crag, that spired up to equal, if not overtop, the neighbouring cliffs (this lay all in shade and darkness) on the other hand a rounder, broader, projecting hill shagged with wood, and illuminated by the sun, which glanced sideways on the upper part of the cataract. The force of the water wearing a deep channel in the ground, hurries away to join the lake. ..."

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Page 212:- "... These [Stockghyll Force and High Fall, Rydal], when I saw them, were in full torrent; whereas Lowdore water-fall, which I visited in the evening of the very same day, was almost without a stream. Hence I conclude that this distinguished feature in the vale of Keswick, is like most of the northern rivers, only in high beauty during bad weather."

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Mr Cumberland's Ode to the Sun, 1776
Page 224:- "SOUL of the world, refulgent sun! / Oh, take not from my ravish'd sight / Those golden beams of living light, / Nor, ere thy daily course be run, / Precipitate the night. / Lo! where ruffian clouds arise, / Usurp the abdicated skies, / And seize the aethereal throne: / Sullen sad the scene appears, / Huge Helvellyn streams with tears! / Hark! 'tis giant Skiddaw's groan, / I hear terrific Lowdore roar; / The sabbath of thy reign is o'er, / The anarchy's begun; / Father of light! return; break forth, refulgent sun!"

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Page 227:- "..."
"... the Naiad [1]; she defies / The faithless echo, and her yelling cries / Howls on the summit of rude Lowdore's brow; / Then with a desperate leap, / Springs from the rocky steep, / And runs enamour'd to the lake below. / ..."
"[1] This alludes to the great water-fall at Lowdore."

evidence:-

old map:- Crosthwaite 1783-94 (Der)

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, An Accurate Map of the Matchless Lake of Derwent, ie Derwent Water, scale about 3 inches to 1 mile, by Peter Crosthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, 1783, version published 1800.

CT2NY21T.jpg
"The great Water fall / R. Stephenson's Esq."
item:- Armitt Library : 1959.191.3
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Gilpin 1786
placename:- Lodoar

source data:-

Book, Observations, Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty, Made in the Year 1772, on Several Parts of England, Particularly the Mountains, and Lakes of Cumberland Westmoreland, by Rev William Gilpin, 1772-74; published 1786-1808.

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vol.1 p.190 "..."
"By this time we had approached the head of the lake; and could now distinguish the full sound of the fall of Lodoar; which had before reached our ears, as the wind suffered, indistinctly in broken notes."

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vol.1 p.191 "This water-fall is a noble object, both in itself, and as an ornament of the lake. It appears more as an object connected with the lake, as we approach by water. By land, we see it over a promontory of low ground, which, in some degree, hides it's grandeur. At the distance of a mile, it begins to appear with dignity."
"But of whatever advantage the fall of Lodoar may be as a piece of distant scenery, it's effect is very noble, when examined on the spot. As a single object, it wants no accompaniments of offskip; which would rather injure, than assist it. They would disturb it's simplicity, and repose. The greatness of it's parts affords scenery enough. Some instruments please in concert: others we wish to hear alone."
"The stream falls through a chasm between two towering perpendicular rocks. The intermediate part, broken into large fragments, forms the rough bed of the cascade. Some of these fragments stretching out in shelves, hold a depth of soil sufficient for large trees. Among these broken rocks the stream finds it's way through a fall of at least an hundred feet; and in heavy rains, the water is every way suited to the grandeur of the scene. Rocks and"

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vol.1 p.192 "water in opposition can hardly produce a more animated strife. The ground at the bottom is also very much broken, and over-grown with trees, and thickets;amongst which the water is swallowed up into an abyss; and at length finds it's way, through deep channels, into the lake. We dismounted, and got as near as we could: but were not able to approach so near, as to look into the woody chasm, which receives the fall."

evidence:-

old text:- Clarke 1787
placename:- Cataract of Low Door

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.

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Page 81:- "..."
"The cliffs about Low-Door are well clad with trees, which in Spring and Autumn are gilded by the morning's rays in every variety of green, yellow, and brown. Behind the trees the naked grey rock peeps forth in hoary majesty, and by a thousand gradations and breaks of light and shade, contrasts, in cooler tints, the more ardent glow upon the leaves. Down this stupendous rocks pours the cataract of Low-Door, dashed from cliff to cliff"

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Page 82:- "in sheets of foam; now it leaves the more perpendicular rock, and forms a chrystal arch; and now it runs almost invisible among pointed, broken projections. During a flood, this, like every other cascade, appears with redoubled magnificence. The stream now almost entirely leaves the rock, and pours down, in one-continued sheet, 200 feet high. Should it accidentally catch the point of some projecting cliff, the water is dashed on all sides with inconceivable violence; the noise and roaring of this impetuous torrent is beyond description, and may be heard at several miles distance."

evidence:-

old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions)
placename:-

source data:-

Book, Britannia, or A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by William Camden, 1586, translated from the 1607 Latin edition by Richard Gough, published London, 1789.

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Page 182:- "..."
"... the more distant concave curve of Lowdore, a length of precipices intermixed with trees and cataracts. ..."

evidence:-

old print:- Farington 1789
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by W Byrne and T Medland, published by William Byrne, 79 Titchfield Street, London, 1785.

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FA0304.jpg
printed, bottom left, right, centre "Drawn by Josh. Farington / Engraved by W. Byrne &T. Medland / LOWDORE WATERFALL. / London Published as the Act directs 1 April 1785, by W. Byrne, No 79, Titchfield Street"
item:- Armitt Library : A6668.4
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1804 (plate 17)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall
item:- cattle

source data:-

Print, uncoloured aquatint, Derwent Water with Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1804, printed after 1807.

click to enlarge
GN1617.jpg
Plate 17 from a series.
printed at bottom:- "Derwent Water with Lowdore Waterfall. / Drawn and Engraved by Wm. Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1804."
printed at top right:- "17"
at :- "[ ] / 1807"
item:- Armitt Library : 2014.163
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag
placename:- Niagara of England

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.

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Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1123 "... The fall of Lodore presents a singularly-harmonious assemblage of the sublime and beautiful. We seated ourselves within the verge of a spacious and symmetrical amphitheatre; from the hollow of which, the wild wood in picturesque confusion hung."
"The character of this famous fall (the Niagara of England) varies with the season, as might be expected from the nature of its resources: the cataract, which during the floods rolls with uninterrupted volume and impetuous velocity, and shakes the mountains with its rebound, dwindles in the drought of summer into a thousand little rills, babbling in the hollows moulded by their continued eddy, or fretting to find a passage between the spiculi that start from the ragged bottom of the rock; these at length join, and, as if impatient of delay, wind off into a smooth rivulet on its journey to the Lake. The variegated tints of the foliage, and the rainbow lustre of the tremulous spray, glistening in the Sun's beams, contribute to the splendour of the scene."
"We proceeded (the sound of the torrent still vibrating in our ears) through the villages of High and Low Lodore. ..."

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1814 (plate 33)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, tinted soft ground etching, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.

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GN1033.jpg
Plate 33 in Sixty Small Prints.
printed at top right:- "33"
printed at bottom:- "LOWDORE WATER-FALL. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:- Armitt Library : A6653.33
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1814 (plate 33)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured soft ground etching, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.

click to enlarge
GN0933.jpg
Plate 33 in Sixty Small Prints.
printed at top right:- "33"
printed at bottom:- "LOWDORE WATER-FALL. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:- Armitt Library : A6656.33
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Green 1814
placename:- Lowdore waterfall

source data:-

Set of prints, soft ground etchings, Sixty Small Prints, with text, A Description of a Series of Sixty Small Prints, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.

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page 18:- "..."
"Lowdore is three miles from Keswick. The waterfall of Lowdore is not seen in perfection by one in a hundred of those who visit the lakes; for it is rarely so full as to exhibit one unbroken sheet of water; but when so, it is, with its accompaniments, sublimely picturesque from many points of view. The rocks are fine, and worth studying in any season; some are almost lost in wood, whilst others tower their grisly heads to an enormous height: one of them rises from the margin of the waterfall, and is the grandest object of the kind in the whole circumference of the valley; and few, unless led to expect water, would be disappointed with the scene before them."
"..."
"Proceed by the Mill to a grassy bank skirted with wood, and see this stupendous chasm, through which, even in"

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page 19:- "dry weather, is issued a considerable quantity of water; but the stones engorged by it, being enormous in magnitude, divide the stream, and obscure it from the eye: were its course diverted and conducted on the western side of the gulf, to that side of the rock which is nearest the mill, it would tumble in one unbroken sheet down to the channel below, and thereby be rendered the most splendid waterfall among the lakes."

evidence:-

old print with text:- Farington 1816
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall
item:- rainfall; echoes; cannon

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving and descriptive text, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by J Landseer, published by T Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1816.

click to enlarge
FA0420.jpg
printed, bottom left, right, centre "Drawn by J. Farington R.A. / Engraved by J. Landseer A.R.A. / Lowdore Waterfall. / London Published Mar. 7, 1816, by T. Cadell &W. Davies, Strand."
Descriptive text:- "LOWDORE WATERFALL presents a singularly harmonious assemblage of the sublime and beautiful. The stupendous crags, between which the torrent precipitates itself, broken into the boldest forms, are shagged with birch, ash, and other trees, hanging every where in the most fantastic shapes from the fissures of the rock. The character of this deservedly celebrated fall varies with the season. In dry weather the fall is inconsiderable, and its grandeur is consequently much diminished: but, when charged with the thousand streams which a storm pours occasionally from the mountains, the bubbling cascade becomes a stupendous cataract; which, rushing down the enormous pile of protruding crags, rolls along its torrent with uninterrupted volume and impetuous velocity. The scene at such a time is truly magnificent: at a public-house contiguous to the Waterfall they have a cannon to display the echoes, which are here singularly grand, and only inferior to those of Ulswater, which have already been described. The height of Lowdore Waterfall is about two hundred feet."
"As these engravings are offered to the public as accurate representations of nature, it may not be improper to observe, that the permanency of the resemblance is liable to be affected by the falls of timber and coppice wood, which not unfrequently take place on the borders of this and the neighbouring Lakes. The candid observer, therefore, will readily make allowance for any variations of this kind which he may discover between our engraving and the original of the scene which it professes to represent. The Drawing from which this print was engraved was made when the whole scene lay open to the eye, and torrents of rain had filled the cavity of the fall and flooded the brook proceeding from it."
item:- Armitt Library : A6666.20
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Farington 1816
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving and descriptive text, East Side of Derwentwater, looking towards Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by F R Hay, published by T Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1815.

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FA0414.jpg
printed, bottom left, right, centre "Drawn by J. Farington R.A. / Engraved by F. R. Hay. / East side of Derwentwater, looking towards Lowdore Waterfall. / London Published Septr. 15, 1815, by T. Cadell &W. Davies, Strand."
item:- Armitt Library : A6666.14
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Gents Mag

source data:-

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Gentleman's Magazine 1819 part 1 p.402 "..."
"'Thus by thy fall, Lowdore, reclin'd;
The craggy cliff, impending wood
Whose shadows mix o'er half the flood.
The gloomy clouds which solemn sail,
Scarce lifted by the languid gale,
O'er the capp'd hill and darken'd vale,
Channels by rocky torrents torn,
Rocks to the lake in thunder borne,
Or such as o'er our heads appear
Suspended in their mid career,
To start again at his command
Who rules fire, water, air, and land,
I view with wonder and delight,
A pleasing though an awful sight;
For seen within the verdant isles
Soften with more delicious smiles,
More tempting twine their op'ning bow'rs,
More lively glow the pruple flowers,
More smoothly slopes the border gay,
In fairer circles bends the bay;
And last to fix our wand'ring eyes,
The roofs, O Keswick, brighter rise,
The lake and lofty hills between,
Where giant Meddaw shuts the scene.'"
"Dr. DALTON."

evidence:-

old print:- Westall 1820
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured mezzotint, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn and engraved by William Westall, published by Rodwell and Martin, New Bond Street, London, 1820.

click to enlarge
WTL107.jpg
printed, bottom left, centre "Drawn & Engraved by W. Westall A.R.A. / Lowdore Waterfall. / Published July 1, 1819, by Hurst, Robinson &Co. Cheapside."
item:- Armitt Library : A6671.7
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Fielding and Walton 1821 (plate 25)
placename:- Lowdore Fall

source data:-

Print, coloured aquatint, Lowdore Fall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Theodore H A Fielding, published by R Ackermann, 101 Strand, London, 1821.

click to enlarge
FW0125.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.169 in A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes.
item:- Dove Cottage : 1993.R566.25
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Fielding and Walton 1821 (plate 38)
placename:- Lowdore Fall

source data:-

Print, coloured aquatint, Skiddaw, from the Head of Lowdore Fall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by John Walton, published by R Ackermann, 101 Strand, London, 1821.

click to enlarge
FW0138.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.248 in A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes.
item:- Dove Cottage : 1993.R566.38
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Otley 1823 (8th edn 1849)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfalls

source data:-

Engraving, Lowdore, the Waterfalls, Borrowdale, drawn by T Binns, engraved by O Jewitt, on p.32 of A Descriptive Guide of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 8th edition, 1849.

click to enlarge
O80E14.jpg
item:- Armitt Library : A1180.15
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834)
placename:- Lowdore Cascade

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.

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Page 37:- "... It is the stream from these tarns [Watendlath Tarn and Blea Tarn] which, after running two miles further along a narrow valley, forms the famed cataract of Lowdore. ..."

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Page 42:- "LOWDORE CASCADE constitutes one of the most magnificent scenes of its kind among the lakes. It is not a perpendicular fall, but a foaming cataract; the water rushing impetuously from a height of 360 feet, and bounding over and among the large blocks of stone with which the channel is filled; so that when the river is full, it is a striking object at three miles distance. To the left, the perpendicular Gowder Crag, near five hundred feet high, towers proudly pre-eminent; while from the fissures of Shepherd's Crag on the right, the oak, ash, birch, holly, and wild rose, hang in wanton luxuriance. From the foot of the fall, where it is usually seen, more than half its height lies beyond the limits of the view, and in dry seasons there is a deficiency of water; yet its splendid accompaniments of wood and rock render it at all times an object deserving the notice of tourists."
"Winding round Shepherd's Crag towards the top of the fall, and looking between two finely wooded side screens, through the chasm in which the water is precipitated, a part of Derwent lake with its islands, beyond it the vale of Keswick, ornamented with white buildings, and the whole surmounted by the lofty Skiddaw - forms a picture in its kind scarcely to be equalled."

evidence:-

:- Hullmandel 1826
placename:- Fall of Lodore

source data:-

click to enlarge
HUL107.jpg
Print, uncoloured lithograph, The Fall of Lodore, from Derwent Water, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Miss I Cropper and Miss S Atkins, published by Charles Hullmandel, London, 1826. "Drawn on Stone by I.C & S.A. / Printed by C. Hullmandel. / THE FALL OF LODORE. / FROM DERWENT WATER."
item:-
Armitt Library : ALMA370.7
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843)
placename:-  Lowdore Force
placename:-  Lodore Fall
item:-  height, Lodore Falls

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.

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Page 55:- "... the far-famed Lowdore possesses irresistible claims on the notice of the wanderer. This Force, after incessant rains, is with its accompaniments sublime, but unfortunately, perhaps, for those who visit the Lakes, few have the opportunity of seeing it at such a time. The chasm through which the river passes is immense, and in dry seasons the stones or fragments of rock subdivide and obscure its waters. ..."

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Page 166:- "..."
"Lowdore Inn.- Close to the inn, in the ravine betwixt Gowdar Crag and Shepherd's Crag, is the fall of Lowdore, so whimsically described by Southey. In dry weather, the water almost disappears amongst the jumbled pile of rocks, over which, when full, it rushes with tremendous impetuosity and force."

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Page 179:- "WATERFALLS."


No.	Name and Situation of Fall.	Height.

5	Lodore Fall, near Keswick	150 feet

evidence:-

old map:- Ford 1839 map

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.

FD02NY21.jpg
"Waterfall"
Lines cross stream? at 'Low Dore'.
item:- JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Garnett 1850s-60s H

source data:-

Map of the English Lakes, in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, 1850s-60s.

GAR2NY21.jpg
"Waterfall"
two lines across a stream, waterfall
item:- JandMN : 82.1
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.

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Page 81:- "... the traveller begins to listen for the fall of Lodore, ... To visit the fall, the way is through the gay little garden [of the Lodore Hotel], and the orchard, (where the fish-preserves are terrible temptations to waste of time) and over a foot bridge, and up into the wood, where the path leads to the front of the mighty chasm. It is the chasm, with its mass of boulders and its magnificent flanking towers of rock, that makes the impressiveness of the Lodore fall, more than the water. No supply short of a full river or capacious lake could correct the disproportion between the channel and the flood. After the most copious rains, the spectacle is of a multitude of little falls, and nowhere of a sheet or bold shoot of"

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Page 82:- "water. The noise is prodigious, as the readers of Southey's description are aware: and the accessaries are magnificent. Gowder Crag on the left, and Shepherd's Crag on the right, shine in the sun or frown in gloom like no other rocks about any of the falls of the district; and vegetation flourishes every where, from the pendulous shrubs in the fissures, 200 feet overhead, to the wild flowers underfoot in the wood. On a lustrous summer evening, when the lights are radiant, and the shadows sharp and deep, the scene is incomparable, whatever may be the state of the water. When the stream is fullest, and the wind is favourable, it is said the fall is heard a distance of four miles. ..."

evidence:-

old text:- Martineau 1855
placename:- Lodore Cascade

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.

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Page 180:- "WATERFALLS."
"No. : Names and Situations of Falls. : Counties : Feet in Height."
"6 : Lodore Cascade, near Keswick : Cumberland : 150"

evidence:-

old print:- Nelson 1859

source data:-

Print, Nelson print, Lodore, waterfall, Cumberland, published by T Nelson and Sons, London etc, 1859.

click to enlarge
NS0504.jpg
printed, bottom "LODORE."
item:- Armitt Library : 2003.13.5
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Nelson 1853 (edn 1880s)
placename:- Lodore Falls

source data:-

Print, chromolithograph, Lodore Falls, Derwentwater, Borrowdale, Cumberland, published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, London, 1880s?

click to enlarge
NS0331.jpg
At the end of Views of the English Lakes, and Tourists Guide to the English Lakes.
printed at bottom:- "LODORE FALLS - DERWENTWATER"
item:- JandMN : 474.32
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Lodore Falls, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0928.jpg
internegative at lower left:- "H. Bell"
stamped at reverse:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS605
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Lodore Falls, in spate, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0484.jpg
internegative at lower left:- "H. Bell"
internegative at lower left:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS143
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, sepia, Lodore Falls, in a dry season, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0485.jpg
internegative at lower right:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS144
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Bemrose 1881
placename:- Falls of Lodore

source data:-

Print, uncoloured, Falls of Lodore, Borrowdale, Cumberland, published by Bemrose and Sons, 23 Old Bailey, London and Derby, by A B Moss, Carlisle, Cumberland, and by T Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, about 1881.

click to enlarge
BEM121.jpg
On p.76 of a Handy Guide to the English Lakes and Shap Spa.
printed at bottom:- "FALLS OF LODORE."
item:- JandMN : 455.23
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Philip/Wilson 1890s
placename:- Falls of Lodore

source data:-

Print, engraving, Falls of Lodore, published by George Philip and Son, London, Philip, Son and Nephew, Liverpool, Lancashire, and Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, about 1895.

click to enlarge
PW1E28.jpg
"FALLS OF LODORE."
item:- JandMN : 58.29
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Heaton Cooper 1905 (edn 1908)

source data:-

Print, colour halftone, Lodore and Derwentwater, a summer's morn, Borrowdale, Cumberland, from a watercolour painting by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 2nd edn 1908.

click to enlarge
HC0146.jpg
Opposite p.136 of The English Lakes, painted by Alfred Heaton Cooper, described by William T Palmer.
printed at tissue opposite the print:- "LODORE AND DERWENTWATER / A summer's morn"
printed at signed lower left:- "A HEATON COOPER"
item:- JandMN : 468.46
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

text:- Mason 1907 (edn 1930)

source data:-

Text book, The Ambleside Geography Books bk.III, The Counties of England, by Charlotte M Mason, published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co, Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane, and the Parents' Educational Union Office, 26 Victoria Street, London, edn 1930.
MSN1P022.txt
Page 22:- "..."
"Southey, another lake poet, less famous than Wordsworth, ..."
"He tells how the waters come down at Lodore, the waterfall at the head of the lake:-"
""
""Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,"
"Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,"
"Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,"
"Recoiling, turmoiling, and toiling and boiling,"
"And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing"
"And so, never ending, but always descending."
"Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending"
"All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,"
"And this way the water comes down at Lodore.""

evidence:-

old print:- Reynolds 1915
placename:- Lodore

source data:-

Print, colour halftone, Lodore and Derwentwater, Borrowdale, Cumberland, from a painting by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 1915.

click to enlarge
REY613.jpg
"A HEATON COOPER"
"LODORE AND DERWENTWATER."
item:- JandMN : 1071.13
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old postcard:-
placename:- Lodore Falls

source data:-

Postcard, colour photogravure, Lodore Falls, Borrowdale, by G P Abrahams, Keswick, Cumberland, purchased about 1954.

click to enlarge
PH0058.jpg
printed at reverse:- "Photogravure Series by G. P. ABRAHAM, LTD. (Copyright) KESWICK"
item:- JandMN : 340
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Heywood 1906

source data:-

Print, halftone, Lodore, the falls, Borrowdale, Cumberland, from a photograph by H Bell, Ambleside, published by Abel Heywood and Son, 56-58 Oldham Street, Manchester, and by Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co, Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, London, 1906.

click to enlarge
HW1E08.jpg
In a Guide to Keswick and its Vicinity in the Penny Guide Books series.
printed at bottom:- "Photo by / LODORE. / H. Bell, Ambleside."
item:- JandMN : 348.8
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Pearson 1900s

source data:-

Print, halftone photograph, Lodore, Looking up the Cataract, Borrowdale, Cumberland, published by C Arthur Pearson, Henrietta Street, London, 1900s.

click to enlarge
PS1E61.jpg
On p.166 of Pearson's Gossipy Guide to the English Lakes and Neighbouring Districts.
printed at bottom:- "LODORE, LOOKING UP THE CATARACT"
item:- Armitt Library : A1188.68
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Loftie 1875
placename:- Cataract of Lodore

source data:-

Print, engraving, Cataract of Lodore, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by EMW, engraved by J Cooper, published by Marcus Ward and Co, 67-68 Chandos Street, Covent Garden, London, and Belfast, 1875.

click to enlarge
LF1E03.jpg
On p.15 of English Lake Scenery, by W J Loftie.
printed at lower left, right, centre:- "EMW / J. COOPER Sc. / CATARACT OF LODORE."
item:- Armitt Library : A963.3
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Sylvan 1847
placename:- Lodore Cascade

source data:-

Print, engraving, Lodore Cascade, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Gilks, published by John Johnstone, Paternoster Row, London, et al, 1847.

click to enlarge
SYL140.jpg
On p.168 of Sylvan's Pictorial Guide to the English Lakes.
printed at bottom left, centre:- "[ ] Gilks / LODORE CASCADE."
item:- Armitt Library : A1201.40
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:-
placename:- Lodore Falls

source data:-

Print, chromolithograph, Lodore Falls, Derwentwater, Cumberland, published by T Nelson and Sons, London, 1900s?

click to enlarge
PR0167.jpg
From a set of prints, The Scenery of the English Lakes
printed at lower right:- "T. NELSON &SONS"
printed at bottom left:- "LODORE FALLS, DERWENTWATER"
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.167
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:-

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Scott's Lodore Hotel, Derwentwater, published by J Scott, Lodore Hotel, Cumberland, viewed from the lake side.

click to enlarge
PR0413.jpg

click to enlarge
PR0460.jpg
Advertisement on the reverse side of the print of Scott's Lodore Hotel, Derwentwater, published by J Scott, Lodore Hotel, Cumberland:- "... The celebrated Falls of Lodore are in the Private Grounds at the rear of the Hotel. Parties not staying at the Hotel must have permission from the Proprietor to view the Falls and Grounds. ..."
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.406
Image © see bottom of page "Scott's Lodore Hotel, Derwentwater"

evidence:-

old print:- Adams 1852
placename:- Lowdore Fall

source data:-

Print, engraving, Keswick Lake and Lowdore Fall, by F G Delamotte, published by W J Adams, 59 Fleet Street, London, 1852.

click to enlarge
AD03E4.jpg
Tipped in opp.p.59 in Adams's Pocket Descriptive Guide to the Lake District.
printed at lower right:- "F DELAMOTTE"
printed at bottom:- "KESWICK LAKE AND LOWDORE FALL."
item:- Armitt Library : A1117.5
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Garnett 1850s-60s F
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Waterfall at Lowdore, Cumberland, drawn and engraved by William Banks and Son, Edinburgh, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, 1850s-60s?

click to enlarge
GAR705.jpg
Included in Views of the English Lakes.
printed at bottom:- "Drawn & Engd. by W. Banks &Son, Edinr. / WATERFALL AT LOWDORE."
item:- JandMN : 165.5
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:-
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Lowdore Waterfall, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by ?B Foster, engraved by E Evans, 1850s-60s?

click to enlarge
PR0498.jpg
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "[B] Foster / LOWDORE WATERFALL"
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.447
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Harwood 1842

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Lodore, Cumberland, engraved and published by John and Frederick Harwood, 26 Fenchurch Street, London, 1842.

click to enlarge
HRW215.jpg
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "London, J &F. Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street. / Sepr. 27, 1842. / Lodore, Cumberland."
item:- JandMN : 166.15
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Rose 1832-35 (vol.1 no.59)
placename:- Lowdore Cataract

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Lowdore Cataract, Cumberland, drawn by Thomas Allom, engraved by J C Bentley, published by Fisher, Son and Co, London, 1833.

click to enlarge
PR0022.jpg
vol.1 pl.59 in the set of prints, Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland Illustrated. The falls in spate.
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "T. Allom. / J. C. Bentley. / LOWDORE CATARACT, CUMBERLAND. / FISHER, SON &CO. LONDON, 1833."
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.22
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Rose 1832-35 (vol.1 no.35)
placename:- Lowdore

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Derwent Water, and Lowdore, Cumberland, drawn by H Gastineau, engraved by W le Petit, published by Fisher, Son and Co, London, 1832-35.

click to enlarge
PR0011.jpg
vol.1 pl.35 in the set of prints, Westmorland, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland Illustrated.
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "H. Gastineau. / W Le Petit. / DERWENT WATER, &LOWDORE, CUMBERLAND."
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.11
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Farington 1816 (plate 19)

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, View on the Road from Keswick to Borrowdale, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by F R Hay, published by T Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1815.

click to enlarge
PR0447.jpg
Barrow House? and Lodore Falls, etc etc.
Plate 20 in The Lakes of Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland.
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "Drawn by J. Farington. / Engraved by F. R. Hay. / View on the Road from Keswick to Borrowdale. / London, Published Septr. 15, 1815, by T. Cadell &W. Davies, Strand."
item:- private collection : 111
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Farington 1816 (plate 20)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, East Side of Derwentwater looking towards Lowdore Waterfall, Cumberland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by F R Hay, published by T Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1815.

click to enlarge
PR0449.jpg
Plate 20 in The Lakes of Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland.
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "Drawn by J. Farington. / Engraved by F. R. Hay. / East side of Derwentwater looking towards Lowdore Waterfall. / London, Published Septr. 15, 1815, by T. Cadell &W. Davies, Strand."
item:- private collection : 113
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print with text:- Farington 1789 (plate 4)
placename:- Lowdore Waterfall

source data:-

Print, engraving, Lowdore Waterfall, painted by Joseph Farington, engraved by W Byrne and T Medland, published by W Byrne, 79 Titchfield Street, London, 1785.

click to enlarge
BMZ93.jpg
Plate 4 from Views of the Lakes, &c, in Cumberland and Westmorland, published 1789.
Lodore fall in spate, between Gowder Crag and Brund Fell; with descriptive text:- "LOWDORE WATERFALL"
"IS generally esteemed one of the most striking Objects of the Kind in this country; its Accompanyments are uncommonly picturesque and grand. These indeed compose of themselves a Scene which cannot but interest the Spectator, even when the Fall of the Water, which depends upon the State of the Weather, is inconsiderable. The stupendous Craggs between which the Torrent precipitates itself broken into the boldest Forms, are shagged with Trees hanging every where in the most fantastic Shapes, from the Fissures of the Rock. The Height of the Fall itself Mr. Gray conjectures to be about two Hundred Feet. At some Distance above the Fall the Stream proceeds from a Lake about a Mile in Circumference. To this sequestered Spot Travellers are seldom conducted, though they might perhaps think themselves amply recompensed for their Trouble, by a Sight of the various romantic Circumstances which occur in this Excursion: The Lake and Village near it are called Wawtenleth. The Point from whence this View is taken is a little to the Right of the Road leading from Keswick into Borrowdale, near the Side of the Derwentwater, where it forms a small Bay. As these Engravings are offered to the Public as faithful Representations of Nature, it may not be improper to observe that the Permanency of the Resemblance is liable to be affected by the frequent Fall of Timber and Coppice Wood which takes place on the Borders of these Lakes. An Allowance will of course be made for any Variation of this Kind which may appear between the Plate and the Original."
item:- Dove Cottage : Lowther.59
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Lowther 1780s-90s

source data:-

Print, engraving, Waterfall at Keswick, presumably Lodore falls, Borrowdale, Cumbria, published by F Blyth, 87 Cornhill, London, 1775.

hearsay:-

Robert Southey wrote The Cataract of Lodore, 1820:-

"Collcting, projecting
Receding and speeding
And shocking and rocking,
And darting and parting,
And threading and spreading,
And whizzing and hissing ...
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar,
... This way the Water comes down at Lodore"

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