Old Cumbria Gazetteer - road, Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale

included in:-

road, Windermere to Penrith
road, Ambleside to Penrith

road, Kirkstone Pass to Patterdale

Kirkstone to Patterdale

Patterdale to Kirkstone

A592

civil parish:-

Lakes (formerly Westmorland)

civil parish:-

Patterdale (formerly Westmorland)

county:-

Cumbria

locality type:-

road route

coordinates:-

10Km square:-

NY40

10Km square:-

NY41

10Km square:-

NY31

evidence:-

old map:- Morden 1695 (Wmd)

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 2.5 miles to 1 inch, by Robert Morden, published by Abel Swale, the Unicorn, St Paul's Churchyard, Awnsham, and John Churchill, the Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, 1695.

MD10NY41.jpg
Double line.
item:- JandMN : 24
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Simpson 1746 map (Wmd)

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, Westmorland, scale about 8 miles to 1 inch, printed by R Walker, Fleet Lane, London, 1746.

SMP2NYF.jpg

SMP2NYK.jpg
Double line.
item:- Dove Cottage : 2007.38.59
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Bowen and Kitchin 1760

source data:-

Map, hand coloured engraving, A New Map of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland Divided into their Respective Wards, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Emanuel Bowen and Thomas Kitchin et al, published by T Bowles, Robert Sayer, and John Bowles, London, 1760.

BO18NY31.jpg
double line, solid and dotted

BO18NY30.jpg
double line, dotted
item:- Armitt Library : 2008.14.10
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Jefferys 1770 (Wmd)

source data:-

Map, 4 sheets, The County of Westmoreland, scale 1 inch to 1 mile, surveyed 1768, and engraved and published by Thomas Jefferys, London, 1770.

J5NY41NW.jpg

J5NY41SW.jpg

J5NY40NW.jpg
double line; road, with mile numbers
item:- National Library of Scotland : EME.s.47
Images © National Library of Scotland

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.

goto source
Page 162:- "Above Goldrill-bridge, the vale [Ullswater] bocomes (sic) narrow and poor, the mountains steep, naked, and rocky. Much blue slate, of an excellent kind, is excavated out of their bowels. The ascent from the lake to the top of Kirkston is easy, and there are many water-falls from the mountains on both sides. ..."

evidence:-

old map:- Crosthwaite 1783-94 (Ull)

source data:-

Map, uncoloured engraving, Accurate Map of the Beautiful Lake of Ullswater, scale about 3 inches to 1 mile, by Peter Crosthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, 1783, version published 1800.

CT5NY31Y.jpg
item:- Armitt Library : 1959.191.7
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Clarke 1787
item:- echoes

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.

goto source
Page 153:- "... Having reached the top of Kirkstone, we again enter Patterdale; here is a curious view (of the bird's-eye kind,) down a Glen or Gulph of great depth, eight or nine miles. The road is down this Glen, very pleasant and good, between amazing high mountains, which strike the traveller with more awe than any he will as yet have seen; their sides are more perpendicular and rugged than any other I have seen of equal height, and under them we are obliged to travel, as both sides are alike. Here are rock upon rock, precipice above precipice, some fixed, others like to tumble down on each side of you; there is no where more than the breadth of the road between them, sometimes not so much, as it now and then takes the side of the mountains, accompanied by a rivulet which runs rapidly down its uneven bed, foaming and bounding from place to place ..."

goto source
Page 154:- "..."
"The road from hence to Ulswater is pleasant and easy, through level meadows, adjoining to hanging woods and lofty mountains, down which are many tumbling waters; the winds drive the sound sometimes full upon the ear, at other times it is scarcely heard, unless re-echoed from the other side of you: you see one part of the mountain in a dark shade, another in the brightest colour the sun's oblique beams can give, and where snowy flocks in full view spot the verdure like pictures upon a wall. We now arrive at Ulswater, from whence we proceed to Penrith, through the tracts we amply described before."

evidence:-

old map:- Clarke 1787 map (Ullswater)

source data:-

Map, A Map of the Lake Ullswater and its Environs, scale about 6.5 ins to 1 mile, by James Clarke, engraved by S J Neele, 352 Strand, published by James Clarke, Penrith, Cumberland and in London etc, 1787.

CL4NY31Y.jpg
"to Ambleside"
item:- private collection : 10.4
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1804 (plate 30)

source data:-

Print, uncoloured aquatint, Brother Water, descending from Kirkstone, Patterdale, Westmorland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1804.

click to enlarge
GN1630.jpg
Plate 30 from a series.
printed at bottom:- "Brother Water, / descending from Kirkstone. / Drawn and Engraved by Wm. Green, and Published at Ambleside, June 24, 1804."
printed at top right:- "30"
item:- Armitt Library : 2014.178
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old text:- Green 1810

source data:-

Set of prints, soft ground etchings, Sixty Studies from Nature, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, drawn 1808-10, published 1810.

goto source
page 111:- "... from Brother Water to the inn at Patterdale the road is good, and winds pleasantly among trees, affording now and then a glimpse of the surrounding country."

evidence:-

old text:- Green 1814

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.

goto source
page 28:- "..."
"The road from Ambleside to Ulls Water runs close to Brother Water, and the mountains rise from it on the right in a very bold style, ... At Brother Water the valley is scarcely half a mile across; and the western side of the lake is bounded by a hill, which rises steeply from it."
"There is a road from Hartsope Hall to Ulls Water, which on the banks of Brother Water is through a wood of fine oaks, out of which the magnificent mountains of Hartsope rise in a style of superior grandeur."
"..."
"From Brother Water to the Inn at Patterdale the road is good, and winds pleasantly amongst trees, affording now and then a glimpse of the surrounding country."

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1815
item:- sheep; clouds

source data:-

Print, coloured aquatint, Brother Water, Patterdale, Westmorland, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1815.

click to enlarge
GN0517.jpg
From the Kirkstone Pass.
Plate 18 in Lake Scenery.
printed at upper right:- "18"
printed at bottom:- "BROTHER WATER. / Published at Ambleside, June 1, 1815, by Wm. Green."
item:- Armitt Library : A6646.17
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834)
item:- itinerary; road distances

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 106:- "AMBLESIDE TO ULLSWATER."
"This is a very steep carriage road, rising 1300 feet above Ambleside, and falling 900 feet on the other side. This hill has taken its name of Kirkstone from a detached mass of rock, standing at a"

goto source
Page 107:- "little distance from the road, and bearing some resemblance to the form of a house. The road passes the small lake of Brothers' Water, and from thence leads through a narrow but pleasant valley to the inn at Patterdale. ..."

Miles.		Miles.
4	Top of Kirkstone	4
3	Kirkstone foot	7
3	Inn at Patterdale	10

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.

FD02NY30.jpg

FD02NY31.jpg
"A to P 25 Ms."
Distance from Ambleside to Penrith.
item:- JandMN : 100.1
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.

goto source
Page 36:- "... There is something wilder to come, however,- the noted Kirkstone Pass,- the great pass of the district. The descent begins about a quarter of a mile beyond the house. Down"

goto source
Page 37:- "plunges the road, with rock and torrent on either hand, and the bold sweeps of Coldfield and Scandale Screes shutting in the pass; and the little lake of Brothers' Water lying below, afar off among the green levels; and, closing in the whole in front, the mass of Place Fell,- the other side of which goes sheer down into Ullswater. The stranger must not omit to observe near the head of the pass, the fallen rock, ridged like a roof, whose form (like that of a miniature church) has given its name to its precincts. All the way as he descends to Brothers' Water, the openings on the Scandale side (the left) charm his eye,- with their fissures, precipices, green slopes and levels, and knolls in the midst, crowned with firs. He passes through Hartsop, and then winds on, for three or four miles, among the rich levels of Patterdale, which is guarded by mountains jutting forwards, like promontories. ..."
"..."

goto source
Page 41 (going back up):- "... at the top of the pass, (which he has walked up, in mercy to his horses) ..."

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Kirkstone Pass, Patterdale, Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0625.jpg
stamped on reverse:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS286
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
item:- motor car

source data:-

Photograph, crashed car, Kirkstone Pass, Patterdale, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1900s?

evidence:-

gradient diagram:- Gall and Inglis 1890s-1900s (Roads)

source data:-

Contour Road Book of England, Northern Division, by Harry R G Inglis, published by Gall and Inglis, 25 Paternoster Square, London and Edinburgh, 1898.

click to enlarge
IG5177.jpg
Itinerary, with gradient diagram, route 177, Penrith to Windermere, and route 178, Penrith to Keswick, Westmorland and Cumberland, 1898.
item:- JandMN : 763.14
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Bogg 1898
item:- stage coach; horse

source data:-

Print, engraving, A Mountain Road, Kirkstone, Patterdale, Westmorland, by Gilbert Foster, published by Edmund Bogg, 3 Woodhouse Lane, and James Miles, Guildford Street, Leeds, Yorkshire, 1898.

click to enlarge
BGG132.jpg
Included on p.126 of Lakeland and Ribblesdale, by Edmund Bogg.
item:- JandMN : 231.32
Image © see bottom of page

places:-

Kirkstone Pass, Patterdale
Patterdale

Lakes Guides menu.