Esthwaite Water: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox lakes
|image = Esthwaite Water aerial photograph July 2019.jpg
|name = Esthwaite Water
|historic name =
|name meaning = Lake by the eastern clearing
|name origin = Old Norse<br>Old English, Middle English
|type =
|inflows = [[Black Beck]] + multiple others
|outflows = [[Cunsey Beck]]
|max length =
|max width =
|max depth = 15.5 metres (50 feet)
|surface area = 100 hectares (247 acres)
|surface elevation =
|volume =
|catchment area = 17.1 km² (6.6 mi²)
|islands = 1
|access = Private / limited access
|historic county = Lancashire
|settlements = [[Hawkshead]], [[Near Sawrey]]
|topo map = OL7 Explorer
|latitude = 54.358902
|longitude = -2.9842575
|os grid = SD361963
|w3w = sandbags.eyelash.buzzing
|gallery =
}}
'''Esthwaite Water''' is a privately-owned, picturesque lake, nestled between [[Windermere]] and [[Coniston Water]] in relatively lowland areas, set against a backdrop of beautiful, rolling hills, with coniferous and deciduous woodlands to the east, south and west. The 11th largest lake from our list has a surface area of 100 hectares (247 acres), 7 kilometres (4.35 miles) of shoreline, and has a maximum depth of 15.5 metres (50 feet). Historically, it used to be in Lancashire until 1974 when a major Government reform of the counties took place under the {{w1|Local Government Act 1972}}. Lancashire lost all of its possession in the Lake District, and the ceremonial county of Cumbria became the new governing county.
Esthwaite Water Trout Fishery operates varied fishing experiences on the lake, offering boat and bank fishing, tuitions, self-drive boat cruises and osprey safaris.<ref>[https://www.esthwaitewater.com/savage/services Services - Esthwaite Water]. Accessed 5 July, 2023.</ref> Farmland occupies much of the lakeside, except where the ground is taken over to wetland in relatively large pockets at [[Out Dubs Tarn]] to the south, and
==Etymology==
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*''the clearing where ash trees grow'' – comes from Old Norse ''eski''/''[[wiktionary:askr|askr]]'' (ash trees) and ''þveit'' (clearing).<ref name="whaley111"/>
*The third element ''water'' comes from Old English ''[[wiktionary:wæter|wæter]]'', which is probably influenced from Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:vatn#Old_Norse|vatn]]'' (water, lake, river). This is the dominant term used for ''lake'', which is seen in other lake names such as [[Elter Water]], [[Haweswater]], [[Crummock Water]], [[Devoke Water]], [[Derwentwater]], [[Loweswater]] and [[Ullswater]] to name a few.
<div class="res-img-1200">[[File:Esthwaite Water Trout Fishery - Flickr - Ian D.jpg]]{{c|<small>Esthwaite Water Trout Fishery. Image:Wikimedia Commons</small>}}</div>
==Beatrix Potter==
Esthwaite Water was London-born Helen Beatrix Potter’s favourite lake, which was handy given the proximity of her 17th-century writing retreat of [[Hilltop]], a modest, picture-perfect farmhouse set within the beautiful village of [[Near Sawrey]]. Walking around the area, it’s easy to see how this was "the place that inspired her stories and her love for the Lake District."<ref>[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/lake-district/hill-top Hilltop - National Trust] Accessed 5 July, 2023.</ref> It is the quintessential rural Lake District, full of charm and character.
Nearby [[Moss Eccles Tarn]] was owned by Potter, and a short walk here can be taken along Stones Lane from the centre of the village. It is a tranquil place. The tarn is home to water lilies, brown trout, and the shores to the west and south are lined with coniferous and deciduous trees. Yet this tarn is relatively new. The tarns on [[Claife Heights]] are not of glacial origin, evidence of which comes from old Ordnance Survey maps where there is a distinct absence of water bodies. <!--ADD WAINWRIGHT PIECE FROM OUTLYING FELLS BOOK - Wikipedia.--> But this does not detract from the beauty of the place. [[Tarn Hows]] was once three smaller tarns, High Tarn, Middle Tarn, and Low Tarn, but a small dam at the south-west corner had created a larger tarn, the one we see today. This is one of the most visited tarns in Lakeland, so it proves that they do not need to be “natural” to be popular and enjoyed by millions of people.
Beatrix Potter owned a substantial amount of land, not just around Near Sawrey, but also at [[Hawkshead]], [[Coniston]],
<div class="res-img-1200">[[File:Esthwaite Water (44213235762).jpg]]</div>
==Geography==
Esthwaite Water lies in a fairly open valley that was carved by a separate tongue of ice from the Langdale fells. The ice continued to excavate in a southerly direction before joining with the Windermere flow, south of Claife Heights.<ref name="smith66"/> This openness gives a feeling of space from some of the various vantage points that offer fine views across the landscape in almost every direction. The lake has three peninsulas, Strickland Ees, on the West Bank, and Ees Wyke and Elter Holme on the south-east bank. The lake drains via [[Cunsey Beck]], through [[Out Dubs Tarn]] and on to Windermere. Esthwaite’s catchment area is 17.1 square kilometres (6.6 square miles) and forms part of the larger catchment of Windermere, which is a hefty 230.5 square kilometres (89 square miles), the second largest of all Lakeland’s catchments, behind that of [[Bassenthwaite Lake]]’s catchment.<ref> Smith (2012), p.50</ref>▼
▲Esthwaite Water lies in a fairly open valley that was carved by a separate tongue of ice from the Langdale fells. The ice continued to excavate in a southerly direction before joining with the Windermere flow, south of Claife Heights.<ref name="smith66"/> This openness gives a feeling of space from some of the various vantage points that offer fine views across the landscape in almost every direction. The lake has three peninsulas, Strickland Ees, on the West Bank, and Ees Wyke and Elter Holme on the south-east bank. The lake drains via Cunsey Beck, through Out Dubs Tarn and on to Windermere. Esthwaite’s catchment area is 17.1 square kilometres (6.6 square miles) and forms part of the larger catchment of Windermere, which is a hefty 230.5 square kilometres (89 square miles), the second largest of all Lakeland’s catchments, behind that of [[Bassenthwaite Lake]]’s catchment.<ref> Smith (2012), p.50</ref>
The principle villages are [[Hawkshead]] to the north of the Lake, and [[Near Sawrey]] to the south-east, with [[Grizedale Forest]] occupying huge swathes of the Furness Fells. Priests Pot is a small area of open water surrounded by this wetland. It is slowly transforming via a process called plant succession, where colonisation and infilling changes something from one state to another, in this case the water will eventually dry up and give way to woodland. This infilling process has occurred all over the Lake District, some more drastically than others. Hawkshead itself was developed on top of alluvium, the deposits of clay, silt, sand, and gravels that slowly infilled the northern extremes of the valley floor. Buttermere and Crummock Water was once a single, much larger lake, now separated by alluvial infilling. The same can be said for Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake. Eventually, over extremely long periods of time, the landscape can change to the point it becomes unrecognisable.
<div class="res-img-1200">[[File:Gleams that upon the lake's still bosom fall - Flickr - sagesolar.jpg]]{{c|<small>September sunset over Esthwaite Water. Image:Wikimedia Commons</small>}}</div>
===SSSI status===
Esthwaite Water is nutrient rich and biologically productive,<ref>Smith (2012), p.67</ref> and present-day is generally agreed to be the most productive or
<blockquote>It is an example of a moderately nutrient rich (mesotrophic) lake, the most productive of the larger lakes in the Lake District and despite the fact that the waters are artificially nutrient enriched by sewage, it is one of the best examples of its kind in England and Wales. It has been studied intensively by the Freshwater Biological Association for over 45 years and the fen at its northern end adjacent to the inflow, North Fen National Nature Reserve, is famous for long term studies on plant community succession on lake margins (the hydrosere). The site includes the tarns of Priest Pot and Out Dubs....The complex of open water, fen and grassland communities within the site support a characteristic flora including examples of nationally rare and local species and have a range of breeding birds typical of these habitats.<ref name="sssi">[https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1003123.pdf Esthwaite Water SSSI – Natural England] Accessed 6 July, 2023.</ref></blockquote>
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<blockquote>
Similar hydroseres have developed at Priest Pot, and at Out Dubs Tarn the sequence continues to dry birch woodland and marshy grassland....Damp pastures and hay meadows separated by ditches and drains are present to the north of Priest Pot. In the main these have been improved and are included for water catchment reasons. However, in places a marshy grassland community has developed....Elsewhere, such as adjacent to the Cunsey Beck below Out Dubs, and to the west of Black Beck adjacent to Priest Pot, taller swards dominated by purple moor-grass...and a fen community with reed canary-grass contain typical marshland species....In addition to its botanical interest Esthwaite Water is of local importance for breeding birds. Great crested grebe, teal, tufted duck, red breasted merganser, pochard and sedge warbler all regularly breed within the site.<ref name="sssi"/></blockquote>
<div class="res-img-1200">[[File:Esthwaite Water aerial.jpg]]{{c|<small>Aerial view of Esthwaite Water from the east looking towards the Coniston Fells. Image: Wikimedia Commons</small>}}</div>
==References==
{{reflist|25em}}
[[Category:Esthwaite Water]]
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Parking available in Hawkshead, Near Sawrey and Ridding Wood with pay and display
External sites
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