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 Bassenthwaite Lake
viewpoint, Beck Wythop
locality:-   Beck Wythop
civil parish:-   Wythop (formerly Cumberland) (?) 
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   viewpoint
1Km square:-   NY2128
10Km square:-   NY22

evidence:-   descriptive text:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821) 
placename:-  station, Bassenthwaite, West 4
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 WS21P126, button  goto source
Page 126:-  "..."
"STATION IV. At Beck-wythop, the lake spreads out to a great expanse of water, and its outlet is concealed by Castle-how. The immediate shore is lined with rocks, that range along banks completely dressed in low wood, and over them Wythop-brows rise almost perpendicular. The opposite shore is much variegated, and deeply embayed by the bold promontories of Scareness, Bowness, and Bradness. Just opposite to you, a little"
image WS21P127, button  goto source
Page 127:-  "removed from the margin of the lake, and under a range of wood, see the solitary church of Bassenthwaite. Its back-ground is gloomy Ullock, a descendant hill of parent Skiddaw, robed in purple heath, trimmed with soft verdure. The whole cultivated tract between the mountains and the lake is seen here in all its beauty, and Skiddaw appears no where of such majestic height as from this point, being seemingly magnified by the accompaniments of the lesser hills that surround its base."
"Over the northern extremity of this expanse of water, the ground rises in a (sic) easy slope, and in the point of beauty Armathwaite is seated, queen of the lake, on which she smiles in graceful beauty. On each hand are hanging woods. The space between displays much cultivation, and is divided by inclosures, waving up the farms seen under the skirts of Caer-mot, the Crown-top hill, that closes this scene in the sweetest and most elegant manner possible. If the sun shine, you may be entertained here for hours with a pleasing variety of landscapes. All the views up the lake, are in a style great and sublime. They are seen in the bosom of the lake, softened by reflection, but to the glass is reserved the finished picture, in the truest colouring, and most just perspective."

evidence:-   old map:- Crosthwaite 1783-94 (Bas) 
placename:-  station, Bassenthwaite, West 4
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, An Accurate Map of Broadwater or Bassenthwaite Lake, scale about 3 inches to 1 mile, by Peter Crosthwaite, Keswick, Cumberland, 1783, version published 1800.
image
CT6NY22E.jpg
"West's 4th. Station"
below Beckwithop. 
item:-  Armitt Library : 1959.191.4
Image © see bottom of page

indexing
person:-   author
 : West, Thomas
place:-   Bassenthwaite Lake
date:-   1778
period:-   18th century, late
period:-   1780s
item:-   guide bookGuide to the Lakes

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