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Bowder Stone, Borrowdale
Bowder Stone
Bowther Stone
civil parish:-   Borrowdale (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   stone
locality type:-   glacial erratic (?) 
coordinates:-   NY25391640
1Km square:-   NY2516
10Km square:-   NY21

photograph
BLT96.jpg (taken 3.4.2006)  
photograph
BLT97.jpg (taken 3.4.2006)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 70 6) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
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:-   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 G7510052, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1751 p.52  "..."
"We had now reached the Bowder stone of Barrowdale, which is much the largest stone in England, being at least equal in size to a first rate man of war; it lies close by the road side, on the right hand, and seems to have been a fragment detached from the impending precipice above, by lightening or some other accident. ..."
evidence:-   old map:- Gents Mag 1751
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Black Lead Mines in Cumberland, and area, scale about 2 miles to 1 inch, by George Smith, published in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1751.
image
GM1310.jpg
"Bowder Stone"
boulder 
item:-  JandMN : 114
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Donald 1774 (Cmd) 
placename:-  Bowthor Stone
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, 3x2 sheets, The County of Cumberland, scale about 1 inch to 1 mile, by Thomas Donald, engraved and published by Joseph Hodskinson, 29 Arundel Street, Strand, London, 1774.
image
D4NY21NW.jpg
"Bowthor Stone"
a block on W of road 
item:-  Carlisle Library : Map 2
Image © Carlisle Library
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 WS21P097, button  goto source
Page 97:-  "... Bowder-stone [1], on the right, in the very pass, is a mountain of itself, and the road winds round its base. ..."
"[1] This loose stone is of prodigious bulk. It lies like a ship on its keel.- Its length is 62 feet; its circumference 184. Its solidity is about 23090 feet, and its weight about 1771 tons."
evidence:-   old map:- Crosthwaite 1783-94 (Der) 
placename:-  Bowdar Stone
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.
image
CT02Vgn2.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : 1959.191.3
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- West 1784 map
placename:-  Bowther Stone
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, A Map of the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, engraved by Paas, 53 Holborn, London, about 1784.
image
Ws02NY21.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1221.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Clarke 1787
placename:-  Bowder Stone
placename:-  Powder Stone
placename:-  Bounder Stone
item:-  self stone
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.
image CL13P082, button  goto source
Page 82:-  "..."
"Many travellers go to see a prodigious large stone further up Borrowdale, called Bowder-Stone, Powder-Stone, or Bounder-Stone. It is a loose stone laid upon a rock, and is almost in the form of an egg; some have compared it to a ship lying upon her keel. It measures thirty-one yards in length, and eight yards perpendicular height; it must, therefore, weigh upwards of six hundred ton, and is said to be the largest self-stone in England."
evidence:-   old drawing:- Green 1790s-1820s
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Drawing, pencil and wash, the Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1800s-10s?
image  click to enlarge
PR1754.jpg
ms, pencil at lower right:-  "Bowder Stone. Point of Castle Crag"
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2011.24
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Cooke 1802
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Map, The Lakes, Westmorland and Cumberland, scale about 8.5 miles to 1 inch, engravedby Neele and Son, published by Sherwood, Jones and Co, Paternoster Road, London, 1824.
image  click to enlarge
GRA1Lk.jpg
"Bowder Stone"
item:-  Hampshire Museums : FA2000.62.5
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1804 (plate 28) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured aquatint, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1804.
image  click to enlarge
GN1628.jpg
Plate 28 from a series. 
printed at bottom:-  "Bowder Stone. / Drawn and Engraved by Wm. Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1804."
printed at top right:-  "28"
item:-  Armitt Library : 2014.177
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1810 (plate 42) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, soft ground etching, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1808.
image  click to enlarge
GN1242.jpg
Plate 42 in Sixty Studies from Nature, 1810. 
printed at top right:-  "42"
printed at bottom:-  "BOWDER STONE. / Drawn and Engraved by William Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1808."
watermark:-  "J WHATMAN / 1813"
item:-  Armitt Library : A6641.42
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1814 (plate 34) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, tinted soft ground etching, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.
image  click to enlarge
GN1034.jpg
Plate 34 in Sixty Small Prints. 
printed at top right:-  "34"
printed at bottom:-  "BOWDER STONE. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6653.34
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1814 (plate 34) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured soft ground etching, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.
image  click to enlarge
GN0934.jpg
Plate 34 in Sixty Small Prints. 
printed at top right:-  "34"
printed at bottom:-  "BOWDER STONE. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6656.34
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Green 1814
placename:-  Bowder Stone
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.
image GN09p19, button  goto source
page 19:-  "..."
"Bowder Stone is a mile from Grange, and five miles from Keswick: the road from the Bridge to the Stone is under Grange Fell on the left, and the river Derwent on the right; and displays, in rugged grandeur, every variety of composition capable of being produced from rocks and mountains."
"Mr. Pocklington, who is now the proprietor of Bowder Stone, has pulled down the walls with which it was heretofore encumbered, and thereby rendered it an excellent painter's study."
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1815
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, coloured aquatint, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1815.
image  click to enlarge
GN0541.jpg
and the house nearby. 
Plate 44 in Lake Scenery. 
printed at upper right:-  "44"
printed at bottom:-  "BOWDER STOONE. / Published at Ambleside, June 1, 1815, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6646.41
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print with text:- Farington 1816
placename:-  Bowder Stone
item:-  echoes
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving and descriptive text, Castle Crag and Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn by Joseph Farington, engraved by J Byrne, published by T Cadell and W Davies, Strand, London, 1815.
image  click to enlarge
FA0416.jpg
printed, bottom left, right, centre  "Drawn by J. Farington R.A. / Engraved by J. Byrne. / Castle Crag and Bowder Stone. / London Published Septr. 15, 1815, by T. Cadell &W. Davies, Strand."
Descriptive text:- 
CASTLE CRAG AND BOWDER-STONE.  "..."
"Nearly opposite to Castle Crag is the gigantic mass of rock, called the Bowder Stone: from the similarity of its veins to those of the adjoining precipice, it is conjectured to have been detached from the latter by some convulsion of nature. It rests on some fragments of rock, and lies almost hollow; the road winding round its eastern side, which projects about twelve feet over its base: its length is about thirty one yards; and its weight has been computed at more than 600 tons.[star] The base of the Bowder-Stone is pitched on a cliff over the river, whence a long perspective of the Gorge is seen, with a little level of bright verdure spreading among the more distant fells. Below, the Derwent serpentises along a wide bed of pebbles, with a wooded island flourishing amid the waste. The solemn stillness that reigns around, is only broken by the remote sounds of unseen cataracts, dashing from precipice to precipice, and sometimes by the voices of mountaineer children, shouting far off, and pleasing themselves with rousing the echoes of the rocks.[dagger]"
"[star] Clarke's Survey of the Lakes. [dagger] Radcliff's Tour, p.466."
item:-  Armitt Library : A6666.16
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Otley 1818
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, The District of the Lakes, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Jonathan Otley, 1818, engraved by J and G Menzies, Edinburgh, Scotland, published by Jonathan Otley, Keswick, Cumberland, et al, 1833.
image
OT02NY21.jpg
Marked by a block, for the building? 
item:-  JandMN : 48.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Otley 1823 (8th edn 1849) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Engraving, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, drawn by T Binns, engraved by O Jewitt, on p.116 of A Descriptive Guide of the English Lakes, by Jonathan Otley, 8th edition, 1849.
image  click to enlarge
O80E29.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A1180.29
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834) 
item:-  geology; glacial erratic
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 OT01P123, button  goto source
"... the Bowder Stone - a fragment of rock above twenty yards in length, and half as much in height,- remarkable for being curiously poised upon one of its angles, with a little more support towards one end. ..."
image OT01P164, button  goto source
Page 164:-  "... The famous Bowder Stone of Borrowdale does not come within the present description [of glacial erratics] ..."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
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 FD01P067, button  goto source
Page 67:-  "..."
"The Bowder Stone next arrests the attention, standing on a high bank overlooking the river Derwent."
"'Upon a semicirque of turf-clad ground,
The hidden nook discover'd to our view
A mass of rock, resembling, as it lay
Right at the foot of that moist precipice,
A stranded ship, with keel upturn'd, that rests
Fearless of winds and waves.'"
"This is an immense fragment of rock, which may possibly at some very distant period have fallen from the mountains near, and have ever since remained in its present position. Its dimensions are as follows:- length, sixty-two feet; height, thirty-six feet; circumference, eighty-nine feet; mass, twenty-three thousand and ninety cubic feet; and estimated weight, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-one tons. The appearance of it is not improved by the ladder affixed to it to enable people to see from its top, what can be much better viewed from Castle Crag. A slate bench near it, present a pleasing view into Borrowdale."
image FD01P167, button  goto source
Page 167:-  "..."
"BOWDER STONE is a rock of great dimensions, which has probably fallen at some far-distant period from the crags above. The stone is 62 feet long, and 36 feet high, its circumference is 89 feet, and it weighs 1971 tons. from this point a fine view of Borrodale is obtained. The village of Rossthwaite lies in front, overhung as it were by Glaramara and Eagle Crag."
evidence:-   old map:- Ford 1839 map
placename:-  Bowderstone
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.
image
FD02NY21.jpg
"Bowderstone"
item:-  JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, 1847.
image  click to enlarge
AS0284.jpg
page number  "71"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.488.84
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, 1857.
image  click to enlarge
AS0520.jpg
page number   "16"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.389.20
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old drawing:- Aspland 1840s-60s
source data:-   Drawing, pencil, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Theophilus Lindsey Aspland, 1857.
image  click to enlarge
AS0529.jpg
page number  "24"
item:-  Armitt Library : 1958.389.29
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Garnett 1850s-60s H
placename:-  Bowder Stone
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.
image
GAR2NY21.jpg
"Bowder Stone"
marked by a block 
item:-  JandMN : 82.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Nelson 1853 (edn 1880s) 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured, The Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, London, 1853 edn 1880s?
image  click to enlarge
NS0304.jpg
On p.17 of Views of the English Lakes, and Tourists Guide to the English Lakes. 
printed at bottom:-  "THE BOWDER STONE."
item:-  JandMN : 474.5
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Pyne 1853
source data:-   Print, tinted lithograph, The Derwent River and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by James Baker Pyne, engraved by W Gauci, published by Thomas Agnew and Sons, Manchester, Lancashire, 1853.
image  click to enlarge
PYN224.jpg
"PAINTED BY J. B. PYNE. / W. GAUCI LITH. / MANCHESTER, PUBLISHED BY THOMAS AGNEW & SONS, 1853. / The Derwent River and Borrowdale / [ ]"
item:-  Armitt Library : A6678.25
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Pyne 1853
source data:-   Print, coloured lithograph, The Derwent River and Borrowdale, Cumberland, by James Baker Pyne, engraved by W Gauci, published by Thomas Agnew and Sons, Manchester, Lancashire, 1853.
image  click to enlarge
PYN424.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : A6677.25
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.
image MNU1P080, button  goto source
Page 80:-  "... the traveller reaches the Bowder Stone at a mile from Rosthwaite,- a fallen rock, standing on its point, and about thirty feet high, and sixty long. There are steps for ascent to the top; but it is as well seen from below, where it cannot but"
image MNU1P081, button  goto source
Page 81:-  "catch the eye of the passenger. ..."
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, sepia, the Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0379.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS33
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old advertisement:- 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Advertisement, printed card, for the Bowder Stone, issued by Mary Thompson, Bowder Stone House, Borrowdale, Cumberland, 1878.
image  click to enlarge
PR1708.jpg
Printed by I Evening, Cockermouth and Workington, Cumberland. 
printed at :-  "BOWDER STONE. MARY THOMPSON, ... continues at the BOWDER STONE HOUSE, and attends on all parties desirous of seeing and examining that IMMENSE FRAGMENT OF ROCK ... Bowder Stone House, June, 1878. // I. EVENING, PRINTER, COCKERMOUTH AND WORKINGTON."

courtesy of Margaret Kalil
item:-  private collection : 311
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Sylvan 1847
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, engraving, The Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, published by John Johnstone, Paternoster Row, London, et al, 1847.
image  click to enlarge
SYL150.jpg
On p.200 of Sylvan's Pictorial Guide to the English Lakes. 
printed at bottom:-  "THE BOWDER STONE."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1201.50
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Nicholson 1821
placename:-  Bowdar Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured lithograph, The Bowdar Stone, in Borrodale, Cumberland, by Francis Nicholson, published by Rodwell and Martin, New Bond Street, London, 1821.
image  click to enlarge
PR1848.jpg
printed, centre  "LITHOGRAPHIC IMPRESSIONS / FROM SKETCHES / OF BRITISH SCENERY / BY FRANCIS NICHOLSON / 1821"
printed, lower right  "The Bowdar Stone, in Borrodale"
printed, bottom left, right, centre  "No 4 / 10/6 / London, Published by Rodwell &Martin New Bond Street"
item:-  Armitt Library : 2014.413
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old painting:- 
placename:-  Bowder Stone, The
source data:-   Painting, watercolour, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by Francis Nicholson, 1808.
image  click to enlarge
PR1310.jpg
A stony path leads from foreground to Bowder Stone, which looms above two sightseers. Beyond it stands a small whitewashed cottage with smoking chimney. Vegetation covered crags rise to the right, with distant fells in centre of composition. 
labelled at reverse:-  "Moss Galleries; Watercolours and Oil Paintings Francis Nicholson OWS 1735-1844 'The Bowder Stone' Watercolour Reproduced in Stanley Fisher's 'English Watercolours' published by Ward Lock, 1970 p110 Exhibited in Carlisle Museum and Art Gallery June 1983 Moss Galleries 'A Cumbrian Selection' Number 41"
item:-  Tullie House Museum : 1983.126
Image © Tullie House Museum
evidence:-   old print:- Heywood 1906
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, halftone, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, from a photograph by A Pettitt, Keswick, 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.
image  click to enlarge
HW1E10.jpg
In a Guide to Keswick and its Vicinity in the Penny Guide Books series. 
printed at bottom:-  "Photo by / BOWDER STONE. / A. Pettitt, Keswick."
item:-  JandMN : 348.10
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Nelson 1859
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, Bowder Stone, drawn by Keeley Halswelle, Edinburgh, published by T Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row, London, and Edinburgh and New York, United States, 1859.
image  click to enlarge
NS0110.jpg
Tipped in oppposite p.264 of a guide book, The English Lakes. 
printed at bottom:-  "BOWDER STONE."
item:-  JandMN : 336.9
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Martineau 1855
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, engraving, Borrowdale near the Bowder Stone, drawn by L Aspland, engraved by W Banks, Edinburgh, published by John Garnett, Windermere, Westmorland, and by Whittaker and Co, London, 1855.
image  click to enlarge
MNU118.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.152 in A Complete Guide to the English Lakes, by Harriet Martineau. 
printed at bottom left, right, centre:-  "L Aspland Delt. / W Banks Sc Edinr. / BORROWDALE / near the Bowder Stone."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1159.18
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Adams 1852
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, engraving, The Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, by F G Delamotte, published by W J Adams, 59 Fleet Street, London, 1852.
image  click to enlarge
AD03E5.jpg
Tipped in opp.p.61 in Adams's Pocket Descriptive Guide to the Lake District. 
printed at lower right:-  "F. DelaMotte"
printed at bottom:-  "THE BOWDER STONE, BORROWDALE."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1117.6
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Harwood 1842
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, engraved and published by John and Frederick Harwood, 26 Fenchurch Street, London, 1842.
image  click to enlarge
HRW216.jpg
printed at bottom left, right, centre:-  "London, J &F. Harwood, 26, Fenchurch Street. / Septr. 27 1842 / Bowder Stone, Borrowdale."
item:-  JandMN : 166.16
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Green 1819
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, aquatint, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, by William Green, 1819, published by R Lough and Co, Chronicle Office, Finkle Street, Kendal, and others, 1820.
image  click to enlarge
GN0123.jpg
Tipped in opposite vol.2 p.132 of The Tourist's New Guide, by William Green. 
printed at bottom right, centre:-  "Vol.2, page 132, line 23. / BOWDER STONE. / Published at Ambleside, Augt. 1. 1819, by Wm. Green."
item:-  Armitt Library : A1141.24
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured aquatint, Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, drawn, engraved and published by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1804.
image  click to enlarge
PR0453.jpg
printed at bottom:-  "Bowder Stone. / Drawn and Engraved by Wm. Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1804."
item:-  private collection : 117
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Britton and Brayley 1802
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, The Bowder Stone, Cumberland, painted by G Arnald, engraved by J Greig, published by Vernor and Hood, Poultry, London, 1803.
image  click to enlarge
PR0141.jpg
Included in the Beauties of England and Wales, by John Britton and Edward W Brayley. 
printed at bottom left, right, centre:-  "Engrav'd by J. Greig from a painting by G. Arnald. / for the Beauties of England & Wales. / THE BOWDER STONE, / Cumberland. / London. Publish'd by Vernor &Hood. Poultry, July 1. 1803."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.141
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
placename:-  Bowder Stone
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, The Bowder Stone, Borrowdale, Cumberland, perhaps late 18th century.
image  click to enlarge
PR0587.jpg
printed at bottom:-  "The Bowder Stone"
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.535
Image © see bottom of page

photograph
BUF90.jpg  courtesy of Keswick Museum.
"BOWDER STONE."
"Mary Caradus BEGS leave to acquaint the Ladies and Gentlemen visiting the Lakes and Mountains near Keswick, that she continues at the BOWDER STONE, and attends on all Parties desirous of SEEING AND EXAMINING THAT IMMENSE FRAGMENT OF ROCK, Supposed to be the largest in the World, and which resembles a Ship lying upon its Keel."
"The Dimensions are as follows:- Length ... 62 Feet. Perpendicular Height ... 36 Do. Circumference ... 89 Do. Contains 23,090 Solid Feet, and Weighs 1,971 Tons 13 Cwt."
"Bowder Stone House, March, 1831."
"THOMAS BAILEY, PRINTER, KESWICK."

photograph
BPQ44.jpg  A climber practicing; the white marks are from ?rosin on climbers' finger tips.
(taken 24.8.2008)  
photograph
BPQ45.jpg  A climber practicing; the white marks are from ?rosin on climbers' finger tips.
(taken 24.8.2008)  
photograph
BPQ46.jpg  A climber practicing; the white marks are from ?rosin on climbers' finger tips.
(taken 24.8.2008)  
hearsay:-  
 According to Joseph Pocklington:-
"Measure of Bowtherstone in Borrowdale Cumberland f i / The Length of the Stone is ... 62=6 / Perpendicular Height ... 36=0 / Circumference ... 89=0 / Contents of Solid Feet ... 23,000=0 / Weight of the above 1771 Tons 13 Hun. / Measure May 15th. 1799 by me J.P."
New measures by Alan Smith, 2003: the specific gravity of the rock is 2.56 and weight 1253 tons.
The Bowder Stone was thought to be one of a scatter of stones here fallen from Bowder Crag. Later thinking is that it is a glacial erratic from Scotland.
Joseph Pocklington employed an old woman, who lived in the cottage near by, as a guide. He had a hole cut through the base of the stone so that the visitor could shake hands with the guide through the stone.
He excavated around the area to improve the aspect.
hearsay:-  
 An advertising ticket reads:-
"BOWDER STONE. / MARY THOMPSON, / Begs leave to acquaint the Ladies and Gentlemen visiting the Lakes and Mountains near Keswick, that she / continues at the BOWDER STONE HOUSE, and attends on all parties desirous of seeing and examining that / IMMENSE / FRAGMENT OF ROCK / Supposed to be the largest in the World, and which resembles a Ship / THE DIMENSIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS: / Length, 62 feet; Perpendicular Height, 36 feet; Circumference, 89 feet; contains 23,090 solid feet; / Weighs, 1,971 ton 13 cwt.; and is a Basaltic or Porphyritic Greenstone. / Bowder Stone House, May, 1878. / I. EVENING, PRINTER, STATION STREET, COCKERMOUTH."
hearsay:-  
 There is said to be the face of Balder, son of Odin, on the south corner of the stone.
William Gilpin refers to the stone as the Boothar Stone, 'It does not seem to have been the appendage of a mountain, but itself an independent creation. It lies in a sort of of diagonal position; overshadowing a space, sufficient to shelter a troop of horse.'

Smith, Alan: 2003: Story of the Bowder Stone: Rigg Side Publications (Keswick, Cumbria):: ISBN 0 9544679 0 6
Hodgson, Liz: 2007: Bowder Stone, a History: P3 Publications:: ISBN 0 9547739 8 5
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