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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 Dubs Tarn to the south, and Priests Pot to the north.<ref name="smith66">{{smith-lakes|66}}</ref> With this in mind, access to lake is very limited to the public. A circular route around the lake is possible by road only, with a small off-road section from Hawkshead to the lake’s northern fringe. |
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 Dubs Tarn to the south, and Priests Pot to the north.<ref name="smith66">{{smith-lakes|66}}</ref> With this in mind, access to lake is very limited to the public. A circular route around the lake is possible by road only, with a small off-road section from Hawkshead to the lake’s northern fringe. |
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| ⚫ | 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 |
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| ⚫ | 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. |
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| ⚫ | Beatrix Potter owned a substantial amount of land, not just around Near Sawrey, but also at Hawkshead, Coniston, little Langdale and many others. Her beloved Hilltop, and 1638 hectares (4049 acres) of land were acquired by the National Trust under the will of Mrs W. Heelis (Beatrix Potter) on 1 June, 1944.<ref>[https://national-trust.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=59d0d36e5b3a44ae8cc49fe38d47ffd7&marker=-2.9703454368421425%2C54.350276137214706%2C%2C%2C%2C&markertemplate=%7B%22title%22%3A%22Heelis%20Bequest%22%2C%22longitude%22%3A-2.9703454368421425%2C%22latitude%22%3A54.350276137214706%2C%22isIncludeShareUrl%22%3Atrue%7D&level=16 Heelis Bequest - Our Land History] The National Trust. Accessed 5 July, 2023.</ref> |
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==Etymology== |
==Etymology== |
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*''the eastern clearing'' – comes from Middle English ''[[wiktionary:est#Middle English|est]]'' (east), that probably replaced Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:austr|austr]]'' (east), and Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:þveit|þveit]]'' (clearing), which in modern day English is ''[[wiktionary:thwaite|thwaite]]'' (clearing; forest land cleared for agriculture or habitation). ''Thwaite'' is a fairly common word and appears in many places across the Lake District |
*''the eastern clearing'' – comes from Middle English ''[[wiktionary:est#Middle English|est]]'' (east), that probably replaced Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:austr|austr]]'' (east), and Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:þveit|þveit]]'' (clearing), which in modern day English is ''[[wiktionary:thwaite|thwaite]]'' (clearing; forest land cleared for agriculture or habitation). ''Thwaite'' is a fairly common word and appears in many places across the Lake District |
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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 clearing where ash trees grow'' – comes from Old Norse ''eski''/''[[wiktionary:askr|askr]]'' (ash trees) and ''þveit'' (clearing).<ref name="whaley111"/> |
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*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. |
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The third element ''water'' comes from Old English ''[[wiktionary:wæter|wæter]]'' |
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| ⚫ | 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. |
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| ⚫ | 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. |
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| ⚫ | Beatrix Potter owned a substantial amount of land, not just around Near Sawrey, but also at Hawkshead, Coniston, little Langdale and many others. Her beloved Hilltop, and 1638 hectares (4049 acres) of land were acquired by the National Trust under the will of Mrs W. Heelis (Beatrix Potter) on 1 June, 1944.<ref>[https://national-trust.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=59d0d36e5b3a44ae8cc49fe38d47ffd7&marker=-2.9703454368421425%2C54.350276137214706%2C%2C%2C%2C&markertemplate=%7B%22title%22%3A%22Heelis%20Bequest%22%2C%22longitude%22%3A-2.9703454368421425%2C%22latitude%22%3A54.350276137214706%2C%22isIncludeShareUrl%22%3Atrue%7D&level=16 Heelis Bequest - Our Land History] The National Trust. Accessed 5 July, 2023.</ref> |
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==Geography== |
==Geography== |
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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> |
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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. |
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. |
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===SSSI status=== |
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Esthwaite Water is nutrient rich and biologically productive |
Esthwaite Water is nutrient rich and biologically productive,<ref>Smith (2012), p.67</ref> and is generally agreed to be the most productive or [[w2|Eutrophication|eutrophic]] lake in the Lake District.<ref>[https://ecn.ac.uk/sites/site/lakes/esthwaite Esthwaite Water – UK Environmental Change Network] Accessed 6 July, 2023.</ref> Scientifically, a great deal is known about the lake and it’s environs. In 1987 the lake including Priests Pot and Out Dubs Tarn was given Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status, which is protected under a conservation designation. It covers an area of 152.8 hectares (377.6 acres). This designation is [https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1003123&SiteName=esthwaite%20water&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= documented on Natural England's website] where reasons for designating the SSSI can be seen in the citation, which states: |
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<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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The citation further mentions microscopic life, 120+ species of larger invertibrates and the broad selection of aquatic plants such as stonewort, pondweeds, shoreweeds, water leobelia, and white water lilies that grow alone the shoreline. Mention of the highly developed hydroseres at North Fen, Priests Pot and Out Dubs Tarn are of significance. |
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<blockquote> |
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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> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Drainage area form part of the larger Windermere catchment |
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*** take overview info from www.ceh.ac.uk easthwaite water uk lake restoration cas study*** |
*** take overview info from www.ceh.ac.uk easthwaite water uk lake restoration cas study*** |
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It has one island |
It has one island |
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