Old Cumbria Gazetteer - Skelwith Force, Skelwith Bridge

Skelwith Force, Skelwith Bridge

Skelwith Force

site name:-

Brathay, River

locality:-

Skelwith Bridge

civil parish:-

Skelwith (formerly Lancashire)

civil parish:-

Lakes (formerly Westmorland)

county:-

Cumbria

locality type:-

waterfall

coordinates:-

NY34130343

1Km square:-

NY3403

10Km square:-

NY30

BNL24.jpg (taken 26.3.2007)
photograph

BNL25.jpg (taken 26.3.2007)

evidence:-

old map:- OS County Series (Wmd 26 9)
placename:- Skelwith Force

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 map:- OS County Series (Lan 2 1)
placename:- Skelwith Force

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.

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Rev Plumtre's Night Piece on Windermere, 1797
Page 231:- "... / Again behold him [the Brathay] raise his head, / As if awaken'd from the dead, / Plumb down the rock of Skelwith dash, / With hoarse reverberated crash; / And, boist'rous boiling from below, / Again across the peaceful meadows flow."

evidence:-

old print:- Middiman 1784-92
placename:- Skelwith Casacde

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Skelwith Cascade, Westmorland and Lancashire, drawn by T Smith, engraved and published by Samuel Middiman, 3 Grafton Street, Tottenham Court Road, London, 1785.

click to enlarge
MM0303.jpg
"Drawn by T. Smith. / Engrav'd by S. Middiman. / SKELWITH CASCADE. / Publish'd as the Act directs, Jany. 21st. 1785, by S. Middiman, London."
Accompanying text:- "PLATE XI."
"SKELWITH CASCADE,"
"WESTMORELAND."
"SKELWITH CASCADE. though comparatively smaller than others that are seen in the Tour of the Lakes, has, nevertheless, Beauties of a superlative Kind that do not always accompany more celebrated Waterfalls. Above the Cascade a Cottage is placed in a romantic Situation, on the very Edge of the Precipice, which, with the waving Trees and Shrubs that branch from the Cavities of the Rocks, give additional Life to the Picture. The Stream rushes from the Cliff in one large Sheet of Water, which is finely broken by the projecting Rocks, and lastly uniting, it falls with great Beauty into the Pool beneath."
"This small romantic Cascade is in Little Langdale, about two Miles from Bratha Bridge, near the Road that leads from Ambleside to Coniston."
item:- Armitt Library : A6860.3
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1814 (plate 11)
placename:- Skelwith Force
item:- fishing

source data:-

Print, uncoloured soft ground etching, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Westmorland/Lancashire, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.

click to enlarge
GN0911.jpg
Plate 11 in Sixty Small Prints.
printed at top right:- "11"
printed at bottom:- "SKELWITH FORCE. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:- Armitt Library : A6656.11
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Green 1814 (plate 11)
placename:- Skelwith Force
item:- fishing

source data:-

Print, tinted soft ground etching, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Westmorland/Lancashire, by William Green, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1814.

click to enlarge
GN1011.jpg
Plate 11 in Sixty Small Prints.
printed at top right:- "11"
printed at bottom:- "SKELWITH FORCE. / Published at Ambleside Augst. 1, 1814, by Wm. Green."
item:- Armitt Library : A6653.11
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old map:- Otley 1818

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.

OT02NY30.jpg
Marked by three chevrons across the stream.
item:- JandMN : 48.1
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Fielding and Walton 1821 (plate 17)
placename:- Skelwith Force

source data:-

Print, coloured aquatint, Skelwith Force, Lancashire, drawn by Theodore H A Fielding, published by R Ackermann, 101 Strand, London, 1821.

click to enlarge
FW0117.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.89 in A Picturesque Tour of the English Lakes.
item:- Dove Cottage : 1993.R566.17
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

descriptive text:- Otley 1823 (5th edn 1834)

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.

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Page 44:- "SKELWITH FORCE is not of great height, but it has the most copious supply of water of any cascade among the lakes. From Skelwith Bridge there is a road on the Westmorland side of the river, whence"

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Page 45:- "looking down upon the basin, the turmoil of the water appears very interesting; and a little further on there is a good view of Elterwater: but, as a picture, the fall is better seen from the Lancashire side, where the Langdale Pikes, appearing between the cheeks of the rock, make an excellent distance."

evidence:-

descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843)
placename:- Skelwith Force
item:- height, Skelwith Force

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 36:- "..."
"A little above the bridge [Skelwith Bridge] is Skelwith Force, remarkable not so much for height as for the body of water which forms the spectacle. The river is here contracted between a chasm in the bed of rocks, forming a crooked trough, into whose abyss the waters are flung from a height of twenty feet; the Pikes again compose fine distances."

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Page 179:- "WATERFALLS."


No.	Name and Situation of Fall.	Height.

13	Skelwith Force	20 feet

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.

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Page 47:- "... just before he comes to Skelwith Bridge, he must go through the gap in the wall to the left, and follow the field-track until he comes in sight of Skelwith Force, He will hardly aver that he ever saw a more perfect picture than this,- with the fall in the centre, closed in by rock and wood on either hand, and by the Langdale Pikes behind. ..."

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Lancashire, by Herbert Bell, photographer, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s?

click to enlarge
HB0950.jpg
stamped at rev:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : 1958.4252.2
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Lancashire and Westmorland, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0419.jpg
stamped at reverse:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS73
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s

source data:-

Photograph, black and white, Skelwith Force on the River Brathay, Skelwith, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.

click to enlarge
HB0201.jpg
stamped at rev:- "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:- Armitt Library : ALPS20
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Heaton Cooper 1905 (edn 1908)
placename:- Skelwith Force

source data:-

Print, colour halftone, Skelwith Force, Langdale, Westmorland/Lancashire, from a watercolour painting by Alfred Heaton Cooper, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 2nd edn 1908.

click to enlarge
HC0113.jpg
Opposite p.40 of The English Lakes, painted by Alfred Heaton Cooper, described by William T Palmer.
printed at tissue opposite the print:- "SKELWITH FORCE, LANGDALE"
printed at signed lower right:- "[A HEATON COOPER]"
item:- JandMN : 468.13
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old photograph:- Marr 1916
placename:- Skelwith Force

source data:-

Photograph, halftone print, Skelwith Force, Westmorland, 1916.

evidence:-

old print:- Pearson 1900s
placename:- Skelwith Force

source data:-

Print, halftone photograph, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Lancashire, published by C Arthur Pearson, Henrietta Street, London, 1900s.

click to enlarge
PS1E07.jpg
On p.11 of Pearson's Gossipy Guide to the English Lakes and Neighbouring Districts.
printed at bottom:- "SKELWITH FORCE. (p.120)."
item:- Armitt Library : A1188.14
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old drawing:-
placename:- Skelwith Force

source data:-

Drawing, Skelwith Force, Skelwith, Lancashire, John Harper, 1840.

click to enlarge
PR1371.jpg
View near Skelwith Bridge; river with force in the centre of the composition. Framed by rocks and trees. Executed in pencil with touches of white gouache on buff coloured paper. Preparatory sketch drawn on the spot by the artist.
at bottom right:- "Skelwith Force 31 Aug/40"
item:- Tullie House Museum : 2009.89.14
Image © Tullie House Museum

evidence:-

old print:- Middiman 1784-92 (pl.11)
placename:- Skelwith Cascade

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Skelwith Cascade, Lancashire, drawn by J Smith, engraved and published by Samuel Middiman, London, 1785.

click to enlarge
PR0195.jpg
Plate 11 in the set of prints, part 3, Select Views in Great Britain.
printed at bottom left, right, centre:- "Drawn by J. Smith. / Engrav'd by S. Middiman. / SKELWITH CASCADE. / Published as the Act directs, Jany. 21st. 1785, by S. Middiman, London."
item:- Dove Cottage : 2008.107.195
Image © see bottom of page

evidence:-

old print:- Middiman 1784-92
placename:- Skelwith Cascade

source data:-

Print, uncoloured engraving, Skelwith Cascade ie Skelwith Force, Westmorland, drawn by T Smith, engraved and published by Samuel Middiman, London, 1785.

click to enlarge
BNF34.jpg
"... SKELWITH CASCADE. ..."
item:- Dove Cottage : 2007.38.127
Image © see bottom of page

BNL26.jpg Downstream.
(taken 26.3.2007)

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