Lake District historical timeline

Last Glacial Period

160,000–128,000 years ago	Lakeland is covered under a think blanket of ice in a period known at the Wolstonian Glacial. Most of the British Isles are covered, with only the southern reaches ice-free. Periods of cooling (glacial) and warming (interglacial) have been ongoing since 2.6 million years ago. Bore hole samples near Sellafield show a series of clays and glacial debris, dated by experts to this time period.
128,000–118,000 years ago	A period of warming begins, the climate is milder and the ice begins to melt. This period, known as the Ipswichian Interglacial sees the emergence of vegetation and animal life, although very little evidence of such exists in Lakeland. Wood remains found in peat at Scandale Beck in the Upper Eden Valley – outside of the National Park but still in Cumbria – is dated to this period. This site is now protected by Site of Special Scientific Interest status.
118,000–11,700 years ago	Britain enters the Last Glacial Period, known to British geologists as the Devensian Glacial. The temperature fluctuates and it is possible that Lakeland did not see the return of ice for the first few thousand years; the climate in the Northern Hemisphere then plunges into more extreme cold and eventual glacial conditions.
22,000–18,000 years ago	Britain is at Glacial Maximum, a period of time where the ice sheets are at their greatest extent. These ice sheets cover the majority of Britain and Ireland. Lakeland is covered in its entirety under one huge ice dome. This core is so thick that maybe only the tips of the highest peaks of Scafell, Bowfell, and Great Gable are visible. The ice may even have been as thick as 1,600 metres (5,250 feet), around 600 metres (2,000 feet) above the tallest fells. All the big lakes are excavated by the ice during this Glacial Maximum.
13,500 years ago	▶ The ice sheets in Lakeland have retreated revealing barren glacial valleys with ice-scoured fells and lakes left impounded in the valley floors. In the British Isles this short period of warming was the Windermere Interstadial, which lasts for around 1,000 years.	▶ A catastrophic rock failure (between 13,500–10,000 years ago) causes thousands of andesite boulders of varying sizes to cascade down from Bowder Crag in the Borrowdale Valley. The largest of these boulders is the famous Bowder Stone, which lands on the lower plateau above the River Derwent in a blance-defying position on its narrowest point.
12,500 years ago	There is a minor climatic change with Lakeland experiencing yet again another colder, glacial period known as the Loch Lomond Readvance. This also lasted around 1,000 years before warmer conditions returned.
11,500 years ago	The Pleistocene geological epoch comes to an end. This marks the beginning of the Holocene (the current geological epoch) and the period of warming known to British geologists as the Flandrian interglacial, which continues to present day.

Neolithic (4,100–2,500 BCE)

4,000–3,350 BCE

Axes heads are being produced at the Great Langdale Axe Factory, in particular on the Langdale Pikes. There is a total of ten quarries, caves, adits, open-cast mines and vertical faces producing the stone that will take a month to shape and polish into finely-crafted, usable axe heads. This is an important industrial site for the production of axe heads, which have been found all over Britain and Ireland, suggest extensive trade networks.

3,000 BCE

Castlerigg Stone Circle is thought to have been constructed around this time, making it one of the earliest and finest stone circles in Britain. Although many of the 300+ stone circles across the country are dated to the Bronze Age, they also include burial mounds. The stone circle at Castlerigg does not.

Roman Period (43–410 CE)

117–138

▶ The Roman forts of Galava (Ambleside), Mediobogdum (Hard Knott), and Glannoventa (Ravenglass) are established around the time of Emperor Hadrian's reign.

1901–1950

1935	18 August – The last service at Holy Trinity Church in Mardale Green, Westmorland, is given by the Rev. W.H. Cormack. The congregation exceeds the church's capacity of 75, and overflows to several thousand outside. Those on church grounds listen via loud speakers, attached to the church tower. The following year the church is demolished, and ancient yew trees are cut down prior to flooding the Mardale Valley for the Manchester Corporation's newly constructed Haweswater dam and reservoir.
1936	Holy Trinity Church is demolished and the bodies of those interred in the churchyard at Holy Trinity are exhumed, most of which are reburied in separate cemetery to the east of St. Michael's Church in Shap.
1945	▶ 4 May – The Dower Report. John Gordon Dower (1900 – 1947), secretary of the Standing Committee on National Parks, produces the first post-war official report with proposals for the creation of National Parks of England and Wales.	▶ 21 July – The National Parks Committee is set up by the Minister of Town and Country Planning, under the chairmanship of Arthur Hobhouse (1886 – 1965). Under advisement from the Dower Report, further preliminary work is deemed necessary on the subject of National Parks.
1947	The Hobhouse Report is published. This landmark report sets out the legislation for the creation of 12 national parks in England and Wales.
1949	16 December – National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 gains Royal Assent. This Act of Parliament establishes the foundation of today's National Parks, with a focus on preserving and enhancing their natural beauty, along with providing access to recreational opportunities for the public.

1951–1974

(Lake District Planning Board)

1951	▶ 9 May – The Lake District is designated with National Park status. It is the second national park to be designated this status after the Peak District. The Lake District is the largest national park in England, and remains so to this day, at 2,362 km2 (912 mi2).	▶ 13 August – The Lake District Planning Board is founded.
1954	Board member, Leslie Hewkin, proposes the recruitment of voluntary wardens to help deal with an ongoing issue of litter, which had been problematic for some time. The Board agrees the proposal and the first litter pick takes place on the August Bank Holiday at White Moss Common, Grasmere.
1955	Number of volunteer wardens reaches 32. This volunteer service continues with the "litter" problem, promotes the Country Code, tackles illegal camping, and provides advice on a wide range of topics to visitors.
1956	A Wardens Committee is set up due to increasing numbers of volunteer wardens.
1960	▶ Huge illegal camping takes place on Elterwater Common. A total of 250 abandoned vehicles are removed by the volunteer wardens.	▶ The position of Warden is advertised in the spring. Upwards of 400 applications are received by the Lake District Planning Board.	▶ John Wyatt is the first full-time warden of Lakeland. He starts in September.
1961	31 March – John Wyatt's first end of year report as fulltime warden. It covers management of the Board's landholdings and properties, promotion of mountain safety, organisation and assistance of exhibitions, advising visitors and continued litter clearances.
1966	22 June – The first formal visit by a member of the Royal Family to the National Park is by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. This occasion is marked by an extensive itinerary to allow for a variety of activities, seeing as much of the National Park as possible within one day.
1967	October – While foot and mouth disease is prevalent across Lancashire, Cheshire and the Midland counties, the combined efforts of the Board, the National Farmers' Union, volunteer wardens, and the public ensure that the National Park remains free of foot and mouth.
1968	The Countryside Act confers power on the national park authorities to establish byelaws for the specific purpose of regulating the use of boats on lakes.
1969	June – The first National Park Centre in Britain opens to the general public. The Hobhouse Committee had recommended a centre in their report as providing: "books, maps, models and museum exhibits for inquiry by visiting public into the topography, history, natural history, rural economy and general culture of the Park and its neighbourhood, together with facilities for reading, field study and similar pursuits, for periodical talks and exhibitions and cinema films and for the sale or distribution of National Park literature and maps." Over 60,000 people visit the centre between June and the end of November.
1972	▶ The Lake District Planning Board celebrates its 21st birthday. There is an evening reception at the National Park Centre at Brockhole. The Chairman of the Board and Director of the Countryside Commission attend with representatives of local councils, local societies, Board members and staff. The Board is congratulated by the Chairman of the Commission on its achievements over the previous 21 years.	▶ The Penrith to Keswick section of the Penrith to Cockermouth railway line is closed after previously successful objections by the Board in 1963.
1974	▶ Lakeland now employs nine full-time wardens.	▶ The Board has six manned information centres operating at Windermere, Keswick, Ambleside, and mobile units at Bowness, Hawkshead, and Waterhead.

1974–1997

(Lake District Special Planning Board)

1984	▶ A litter pick produces 1,000 sacks of rubbish from the valleys and fells.	▶ 23 July – The water level of Haweswater is over 37 feet below normal, and falling at a consistent rate of around three feet per week. Water is flowing in at less than one million gallons per day, as opposed to 80 million gallons going out. This leaves the distinctive white band of rock and shingle on the shoreline. The remains of the flooded and once picturesque hamlet of Mardale Green are visible.
1991	7 November – Esthwaite Water and Priest Pot Tarn is designated a Ramsar site, a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, "on account of its diverse macrophyte community and the well developed hydrosere at the northern end of the lake."

1997–to date

(Lake District National Park Authority)

2018

27 April – Phase one of the Claife Community Bridleway, in development for a number of years to provide a safe, off-road walking route between Hawkshead and Near Sawrey, is opened to the public.

2021

9 May – The Lake District National Park celebrates its 70th anniversary since its original designation. The open spaces and natural beauty of Lakeland are appreciated with increasing enthusiasm due to the restrictions of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Celebrations continue through to August, which marks the National Park Authority's 70 years since it was founded (13 August, 1951). People are invited to mark the anniversary by sharing their favourite Lake District memories on various social media, using #LakeDistrict70 and tagging Lake District National Park. Chief Executive, Richard Leafe says: "This last year has shown us how much people value this protected, national landscape and how important it has been for everyone’s wellbeing," and that this "anniversary is a chance to reflect on highlights from the last seven decades, and to look ahead too."

Sources

• Berry, Geoffrey (1984). Mardale Revisited: The Story of Haweswater. Kendal: Westmorland Gazette.
• Holder, Geoff (2009). The Guide to The Mysterious Lake District. Stroud: The History Press.
• Robinson, Jeremy Rowan. Managing the Lake District National Park: The first 60 years. Kendal: Lake District National Park.
• Smith, Alan (2003). The Story of the Bowder Stone. The Landscapes of Cumbria. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications.
• Smith, Alan (2008). The Ice Age in the Lake District. The Landscapes of Cumbria No.3. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications.
• Smith, Alan (2012). The Big Lakes of Lakeland. The Landscapes of Cumbria No.5. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications.
• Smith, Alan (2014). The Smaller Lakes and Tarns of Lakeland. The Landscapes of Cumbria No.6. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications.