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viewpoint, Beacon Hill
site name:-   Beacon Hill
locality:-   Penrith
civil parish:-   Penrith (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   viewpoint
coordinates:-   NY52123137 (about) 
1Km square:-   NY5231
10Km square:-   NY53
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.
image WS21P172, button  goto source
Page 172:-  "..."
"From the beacon [Penrith] the views are many, all extensive and vast. The eye is in the centre of a plain, inclosed with a circle of stupendous mountains of various forms. The plain is adorned with many ancient towns, and more ancient castles, stations, and castellums, where the Roman eagle long displayed her wings; but which are now possessed by a happier people, who enjoy, with freedom,"
image WS21P173, button  goto source
Page 173:-  "all the refinements of liberal taste and flourishing industry."
"..."
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Page 190:-  "A TABLE OF THE Height of Mountains and Lakes SEEN IN THIS TOUR, ... TAKEN FROM THE LEVEL OF THE SEA. ... by Mr. John Dalton."
"Penrith Beacon ... 340 [yards]"
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Addendum; Mr Gray's Journal, 1769 
Page 200:-  "... at Penrith, ... In the afternoon walked up beacon-hill, a mile to the top, and could see Ulls-water through an opening in the bosom of that cluster of broken mountains, which the Dr. well remembers, Whinfield and Lowther parks, &c. and the craggy tops of an hundred nameless hills: these lie to the west and south. To the north, a great extent of black and dreary plains. To the east, Cross-fell, just visible through mists and vapours hovering round it."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Baker 1802
item:-  races
source data:-   Perspective road map with sections in Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland, by J Baker, London 1802.
pp.25-26:-  "..."
"Penrith is situated beneath some verdurous heights that stretch from it towards the east; one point of which is decorated with a fancy building, commonly called the Beacon. From this spot is a most interesting view if the adjacent country, and hereon are the annual races of the town. ..."
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.
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Page 132:-  "..."
"... Above the race-course, on the point of a wood-embowered hill, stands the Beacon, which the traveller may visit for the purpose of seeing from a moderate elevation the country lying around, and thus forming a correct idea of the relative situation of places of interest. To the north, Cross Fell is the most conspicuous object, nor can the Pikes of Dufton escape the eye, with the range of mountains reaching from east to west of Carlisle. Stainmore and the heights of Wildbore Fell, towards Kirkby Stephen, fill the east. On the south are Lowther and Brougham, with their teeming plains and luxuriant woods; and the circle on the west is enriched with the town of Penrith and the rural vale of Eamont, overtopped by Skiddaw."
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