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Low Fall, Rydal
Low Fall
site name:-   Rydal Beck
site name:-   Rydal Hall
locality:-   Rydal
civil parish:-   Lakes (formerly Westmorland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   waterfall
coordinates:-   NY36640634
1Km square:-   NY3606
10Km square:-   NY30

photograph
BPU20.jpg  From the Grot.
(taken 31.10.2008)  courtesy of Rydal Hall
photograph
BPU13.jpg (taken 31.10.2008)  courtesy of Rydal Hall
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 26 2) 
placename:-  Low Fall
placename:-  Fall, Low
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) 
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 WS21P078, button  goto source
Page 78:-  "... At Rydal-hall are two cascades worthy of notice. ..."
"The other cascade is a smaller fall of water, seen through the window of the summer-house, in Sir Michael's orchard [1]. The first who brought this sweet scene to light, is the elegant and learned editor of Mr. Gray's letters. And as no one described these views"
"[1] No.13, of the views of the lakes, by Mr. Farrington."
image WS21P079, button  goto source
Page 79:-  "better than Mr. Mason, the reader shall have the account of it in his own words. 'Here nature has performed every thing in little, that she usually executes in her larger scale; and, on that account, like the miniature painter, seems to have finished every part of it in a studied manner. Not a little fragment of a rock is thrown into the bason, not a single stem of brush-wood that starts from its craggy sides, but has a picturesque meaning; and the little central current dashing down a cleft of the darkest-coloured stone, produces an effect of light and shadow beautiful beyond description. This little theatrical scene might be painted as large as the original, on a canvas not bigger than those usually dropped in the opera-house [1].'"
"[1] There is a cascade at Nunnery, near Kirkoswald, in Cumberland, much in the same style as this. ..."
image WS21P212, button  goto source
Addendum; Mr Gray's Journal, 1769 
Page 212:-  "By not staying a little at Ambleside, Mr. Gray lost the sight of two magnificent cascades: [Stockghyll Force and High Fall, Rydal] ... But his greatest loss was in not seeing a small water-fall, visible only through the window of a ruined summer-house in Sir Michael's orchard. Here nature has performed everything in little, that she usually executes on her larger scale; and on that account, like the miniature painter, seems to have finished every part of it in a studied manner; not a little fragment of the rock thrown into the bason, not a single stem of brushwood that starts from its craggy sides, but has its picturesque meaning; and the little central stream dashing down a cleft of the darkest coloured stone, produces an effect of light and shadow beautiful beyond description. This little theatrical scene might be painted as large as the original on a canvass not bigger than those usually dropped in the opera house."
image WS21P232, button  goto source
Rev Plumtre's Night Piece on Windermere, 1797 
Page 232:-  "... / Sublime the next cascade appears, / The lower, softer features wears."
"Such scenes nor Poussin could, nor Claude, / In living canvas e'er afford; / For nature ev'ry effort tried / To form your Fleming's wat'ry pride. / ..."
evidence:-   presumably old print:- Middiman 1784-92
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, View of a Waterfall at Rydal, Westmorland, published by Samuel Middiman, 3 Grafton Street, Tottenham Court Road, London, 1785.
Accompanying text:-  "PLATE XVIII."
"VIEW of a WATERFALL at RYDAL,"
"WESTMORELAND."
"THE romantic little Waterfall in Sir Michael le Fleming's Orchard, at Rydal, was first noticed by the reverend and learned Editor of Mr. Gray's Letters; the Reader will not, therefore, be displeased to have Mr. Mason's own Account of it transcribed in this Place."
""Here Nature has performed every Thing in little that she usually executes on her larger Scale; and on that Account, like the miniature Painter, seems to have finished every Part of it in a studied Manner; Not a little Fragment of Rock thrown into the Bason, not a single Stem of Brushwood that starts from its craggy Sides, but has its picturesque Meaning; and a little central Stream dashing down a Cleft of the darkest-coloured Stone. produces an Effect of Light and Shadow beautiful beyond Description. This little theatrical Scene might be painted as large as the Original, on a canvas not bigger than those usually dropped in the Opera House.""
item:-  Armitt Library : A6862.2
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Farington 1789
placename:-  Lower Waterfall, The
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, The Lower Waterfall at Rydal, Westmorland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by B T Pouncy, published by William Byrne, 79 Titchfield Street, London, 1788.
image  click to enlarge
FA0313.jpg
printed, top right  "No.XIII"
printed, bottom left, right, centre  "Drawn by Josh. Farington, R.A. / Engraved by B. T. Pouncy. / The lower WATER-FALL at RYDAL. / Published as the Act directs, 15 Jany. 1788, by W. Byrne, No.79, Titchfield Street, London."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6668.13
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag
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.
image G8051011, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1805 p.1011  "... the guide who preceeded us flung open the door of a small summer-house in ruins, nodding over the brink of the river. The momentary effect was electrical! and we drew back with involuntary surprize. The suddenness and velocity of these impressions defy every attempt to describe the effect they produce upon the sensations of the spectator. The water of a small bason, hollowed in a bed of stone, and darkened by the impending foliage is thrown into a tremendous agitation by two small steams falling six or eight feet from the clefts of a small shelf of rock. One of them is a broad ribband torrent, fretting itself into a white foam; the other a little rippling stream. whose current disperses as it falls. The fine marble slabs that form the sides of the bason, are carpeted by a thick brown moss; and the light which is denied admittance through the trees, is ushered in at the arch of a small wooden bridge above the falls, and reflected from the surface of the water."
"This finished miniature, the beauties of which are elegantly delineated by the pen of Mr. Mason, affords every effect that is striking in the arrangement of light and shade, and all that is exquisite in the delicacies of contrast."
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1810 (plate 18) 
placename:-  Lower Fall
source data:-   Print, soft ground etching, Lower Fall at Rydal, Westmorland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1810.
image  click to enlarge
GN1218.jpg
Plate 18 in Sixty Studies from Nature, 1810. 
printed at top right:-  "18"
printed at bottom:-  "LOWER FALL AT RYDAL. / Drawn and Engraved by William Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1810."
watermark:-  "J WHATMAN / 1813"
item:-  Armitt Library : A6641.18
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
placename:-  Rydal Waterfalls
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 OT01P044, button  goto source
Page 44:-  "RYDAL WATERFALLS.- The upper is a considerable cascade, pouring out its water, first in a contracted stream, down a perpendicular rock; and then, in a broader sheet, dashing into a deep stony channel. The lower, being near the house, forms a beautiful garden scene."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Lower Fall
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 FD01P040, button  goto source
Page 40:-  "..."
"... The Rydal Waterfalls are shown by a domestic [of Rydal Hall]; the stranger is introduced into a summer-house, from which he suddenly beholds the Lower Fall, forming an enchanting garden-scene. ..."
evidence:-   old text:- Martineau 1855
item:-  drawing
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 MNU1P054, button  goto source
Page 54:-  "..."
"The guide to the Rydal Falls will by this time have presented herself, and the tourist must visit them. They are within the park, and cannot be seen without"
image MNU1P055, button  goto source
Page 55:-  "a guide: but some one is always to be found at one of the two guides' cottages on the ascent of the hill. ... the lower is the one generally represented by artists,- the summer-house from which it is viewed affording an admirable picture-frame, and the basin of rock, and the bridge above, constituting, in truth, a very perfect picture. When there is a dash of sunshine on the verdure, behind and under the bridge, to contrast with the shadowy basin and pool of the fall, the subject is tempting enough to the artist."
evidence:-   old print:- Walton 1876
placename:-  Rydal Falls
source data:-   Print, colour lithograph, Rydal Falls, Low Fall, Rydal, Westmorland, from a painting by Elijah Walton, published by W M Thompson, 20 Cockspur Street, Pall Mall, and Burlington Gallery, Piccadilly, London, 1876.
image  click to enlarge
WLT307.jpg
Plate 7 in English Lake Scenery, with a description by T G Bonney. 
item:-  JandMN : 469.7
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, sepia, Low Fall, Rydal Beck, Rydal, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0689.jpg
internegative at lower left:-  "H. Bell"
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS353
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Garnett 1850s-60s F
placename:-  Lower Fall
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Lower Fall at Rydal, Westmorland, drawn and engraved by William Banks, Edinburgh, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, 1850s-60s?
image  click to enlarge
GAR706.jpg
Included in Views of the English Lakes. 
printed at bottom:-  "Drawn &Engd. by W. Banks Edinr. / LOWER FALL AT RYDAL"
item:-  JandMN : 165.6
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Rose 1832-35
placename:-  Lower Fall at Rydal
source data:-   Print, engraving, The Lower Fall at Rydal, Westmorland, by George Pickering, engraved by le Petit, 1833.
image  click to enlarge
R131.jpg
item:-  JandMN : 66.21
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1819
placename:-  Lower Fall at Rydal
source data:-   Print, aquatint, Lower Fall at Rydal, Rydal, Westmorland, by William Green, 1819, published by R Lough and Co, Chronicle Office, Finkle Street, Kendal, and others, 1820.
image  click to enlarge
GN0107.jpg
Tipped in opposite vol.1 p.296 of The Tourist's New Guide, by William Green. 
printed at bottom right, centre:-  "Vol.I, page 296, line 26. / LOWER FALL at RYDAL. / Published at Ambleside, Augt. 1. 1819., by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1141.8
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
placename:-  Lower Fall
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Bridge and Lower Fall at Rydal Westmorland, published early 19th century.
image  click to enlarge
PR0444.jpg
printed at bottom:-  "BRIDGE AND LOWER FALL AT RYDAL WESTMORLAND"
item:-  private collection : 108
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print with text:- Farington 1789 (plate 13) 
source data:-   Print, engraving, The Lower Waterfall at Rydal, Westmorland, painted by Joseph Farington, engraved by B T Pouncy, published by W Byrne, 69 Titchfield Street, London, 1785.
image  click to enlarge
BMZ05.jpg
The waterfall from below surrounded by trees, the bridge visible above. 
Plate 13 from Views of the Lakes, &c, in Cumberland and Westmorland, published 1789; with descriptive text:-.  "LOWER WATERFALL at RYDAL"
"THIS Cascade is seen through the Window of the Summer-House in Sir Michael Le Fleming's Garden at Rydal Hall. There is another Fall of the same Stream extremely well worth seeing though in a different Stile of Beauty a little above the House. Public mention was first made of the elegant little Scene which is the Subject of this Plate by Mr. Mason, the Editor of Mr. Gray's Letters, nor will the Reader to be displeased to have the Account of it in his own Words. 'Here Nature has performed every Thing in little that she usually executes on her larger Scale; and on that Account, like the Miniature Painter, seems to have finished every part of it in a studied Manner: not a little Fragment of Rock thrown into the Bason, not a single Stem of Brushwood that starts from its craggy Side but has a picturesque Meaning; and the little central Stream dashing down a Cleft of the darkest coloured Stone, produces an Effect of Light and Shadow beautiful beyond Description. This little theatrical Scene might be painted as large as the Original, on a Canvas not bigger than those usually dropped in the Opera-House.'"
item:-  Dove Cottage : Lowther.6
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Middiman 1784-92
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, View of a Waterfall at Rydal, ie Low Fall, Rydal, Westmorland, painted by J Barrett, engraved and published by Samuel Middiman, London, 1785.
image  click to enlarge
BNF31.jpg
There is accompanying text in English and French:-  "PLATE XVIII. / VIEW of a WATERFALL at RYDAL, WESTMORELAND. / THE romantic little Waterfall in Sir Michael Le Fleming's Orchard, at Rydal, was first noticed by the reverend and learned Editor of Mr. Gray's Letters; the Reader will not, therefore, be displeased to have Mr. Mason's own Account of it transcribed in this Place. / 'Here Nature has performed every Thing in little that she usually executes on her larger Scale; and on that Account. like the miniature Painter, seems to have finished every Part of it in a studied Manner: Not a little Fragment of Rock thrown into the Bason, not a single Stem of Brushwood that starts from its craggy Sides, but has its picturesque Meaning; and the little central Stream dashing down a Cleft of the darkest-coloured Stone, produces an Effect of Light and Shadow beautiful beyond Description. This little theatrical Scene might be painted as large as the Original, on a Canvas not bigger than those usually dropped in the Opera House.'"
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.124
Image © see bottom of page

photograph
BPU21.jpg  From the Grot.
(taken 31.10.2008)  courtesy of Rydal Hall
photograph
BPU24.jpg  The stream below the fall.
(taken 31.10.2008)  courtesy of Rydal Hall
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