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Water is abundant here; reason alone for its green hues in summer and long, grey winters. There are hundreds of bodies of water in the Lake District, ranging in size from the largest lakes to the smallest pools, many more than most people would ever care to visit. The popular destinations are what brings the masses here to break away from everyday routine. From hardcore hikers and cyclists to the casual, fair-weather day trippers, visitors to the area who explore this great outdoors, do so because its appeal draws them in, time and time again. The lakes are just one, albeit predominantly so, reason for this influx of people every year. |
Water is abundant here; reason alone for its green hues in summer and long, grey winters. There are hundreds of bodies of water in the Lake District, ranging in size from the largest lakes to the smallest pools, many more than most people would ever care to visit. The popular destinations are what brings the masses here to break away from everyday routine. From hardcore hikers and cyclists to the casual, fair-weather day trippers, visitors to the area who explore this great outdoors, do so because its appeal draws them in, time and time again. The lakes are just one, albeit predominantly so, reason for this influx of people every year. |
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By name alone, the Lake district has only one ''lake'' |
By name alone, the Lake district has only one ''[[Origin of the word "lake"|lake]]'' of the 17 main lakes throughout the National Park – [[Bassenthwaite Lake]], which is nestled in the northern region of the park's periphery. There is a general misconception that [[Windermere]], the largest of the lakes, is prefixed with the word ''Lake'' to differentiate it from the small town of the same name. ''Lake Windermere'' or ''Windermere Lake'' are not official titles, but are used extensively as a means of identifying the lake instead of the town. This grammatical construct ({{w2|Tautology (language)|tautology}}) typifies the redundancy of the word ''lake'', which is not needed due to ''mere'' already being present. Also, ''Windermere Town'' just sounds a little odd, with ''town'' being superfluous. |
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Although the Lake District has only one body of water with ''lake'' in the title, the remaining 16 of the big lakes are named with ''[[Origin of the word "mere"|mere]]'' or ''[[Origin of the word "water"|water]]''. These words are synonymous with the lakes born in this wide open land, either by glacial withdrawal or by human intervention. |
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==Etymology== |
==Etymology== |
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Before we move on, |
Before we move on, it is interesting to learn from where these words are derived. Lake District place names take a lot of influence from {{w1|Old Norse}} as well as {{w1|Old English}}. Some words follow a natural progression through time, others do not and can change dramatically with entirely different meanings. Words can also be cognate with, and influenced by, other languages. A simple appreciation of these can provide a broader understanding of the words we use today. |
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The three words lake, mere, and water all come from a Proto-Germanic background, however, ''lake'' is a little more complicated as it is a merger of two different words from French and English. The French lineage ascends back to Proto-Italic, which spawned the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish etc.) What is interesting, all three of these words ultimately refer to a "body of water" of some sort, with subtle variations depending on size and usage. Cognates are also strikingly similar as to be expected, which show how these words developed and changed through time to mean something similar to, or even the same as, their ancestor equivalent. |
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The word ''lake'' has a complicated and, in part, an uncertain history due to a merging of inherited Middle English ''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED24590/track?counter=1&search_id=23362984 lake]'', ("small stream of running water, pool, lake"), with Middle English ''lac'' ("lake"), which comes from Old French ''[[wiktionary:lac#Old_French|lac]]'' ("lake") or Latin ''[[wiktionary:lacus#Latin|lacus]]'' ("lake, pond, basin, reservoir"). |
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Rather than discuss this in length here, it is best if these are broken down into more detail separately. |
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The Middle English ''lake'' ("stream, pool, lake") is related to Dutch ''[[wiktionary:laak#Dutch|laak]]'' ("stream, drainage ditch, pond"), Low German ''[[wiktionary:Lake#German_Low_German|Lake, Laak]]'' ("drainage, marshland"), German ''[[wiktionary:Lache#German|Lache]]'' ("puddle, pool"), Icelandic ''[[wiktionary:lækur#Icelandic|lækur]]'' ("stream"), and comes from the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leg-|*leg-]]'', which means ("to leak"). The descendants of this word follow more than one lineage. However, below shows the progression through the Germanic/English lineage. Words in '''bold''' shows the merging period: |
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*Proto-Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/lakō|*lakō]]'' → leak, drain, puddle, pool, lake (+ others) |
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**Proto-West Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/laku|*laku]]'' → stream, pool or lake |
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***Old English: ''[[wiktionary:lacu#Old English|lacu]]'' → pool, pond, expanse of water, or lake |
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****Middle English: '''''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED24590/track?counter=1&search_id=23368488 lāke, lac]''''' → expanse of water, lake, pond, pool, reservoir (+ others) |
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*****English: ''[[wiktionary:lake#English|lake]]'' → a large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid |
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From the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/lókus|lókus]]'', which means ("pond, pool"), the descendants of this word follow the progression through the Italic/French lineage: |
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*Proto-Italic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/lakus|lakus]]'' → lake |
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*[[Origin of the word "water"]] |
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**Latin ''[[wiktionary:lacus#Latin|lacus]]'' → lake, pond, basin, reservoir |
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***Old French ''[[wiktionary:lai#Old_French|lai]]'' → pond, lake (displaced) |
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***Old French ''[[wiktionary:lac#Old French|lac]]''<sup>?</sup> → lake |
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****Middle French '''''lac''''' → lake |
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*****French ''[[wiktionary:lacFrench|lac]]'' → lake |
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*****Norman ''[[wiktionary:lac#Norman|lac]]'' → lake (from {{w1|Jersey}}) |
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Words prefixed with a * are [[Wiktionary:Reconstructed terms| reconstructed words]]. This means they have not been directly attested, but instead are hypothesised to have existed based on comparative evidence. |
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The displacement of Old French ''lai'' could have been assisted by influence from the early Middle English words ''lac, lace'', and the Old English word ''lacu'' (“pool, pond, lake”), as a result of ''lac's'' sudden spread in Old French. This was brought about following the annexation of English controlled Normandy into the kingdom of France in 1204. A full-out borrowing of the term from Middle English rather than from the Latin is also not an impossibility, as the earliest attestations of Old French ''lac'' are in the {{w1|Eadwine Psalter}} (written by Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman scribes in England) and {{w1|Erec and Enide}} (an Arthurian romance, whose author was heavily influenced by English, Anglo-Norman, and Celtic writings).<ref>''[[Wiktionary:lac#Old_French|Lac]]''. [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page Wiktionary] Accessed 27 April, 2023.</ref> |
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''Lake'' in the present instance is simply a large body of water that is completely surrounded by land, which easily describes all of the big lakes in the Lake District regardless of location. |
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The word ''mere'' comes from Old English ''[https://bosworthtoller.com/22650 mere]'', meaning a ("lake") or ("pool"). In compound words it could also mean "sea". It is interesting to note how the word, from its earliest root through to present day, has very similar meanings, not only through time but also across a broad spectrum of European countries. |
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From the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/móri|*móri]]'', which means ("sea") or ("standing water"), the descendants of this word follow the English lineage: |
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*Proto-Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mari|*mari]]'' → sea, ocean, lake, body of water |
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**Proto-West-Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mari|*mari]]'' → sea or lake |
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***Old English ''[[wiktionary:mere#Old_English|mere]]'' → lake, pool or (compound) sea |
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****Middle English ''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED27421/track?counter=1&search_id=23362984 mere]'' → lake, pond, pool; also, a sea or an ocean |
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*****English ''[[wiktionary:mere#Etymology_3|mere]]'' → A body of standing water, such as a lake or a pond. More specifically, it can refer to a lake that is broad in relation to its depth. |
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It should be noted that Old English ''mere'' also corresponds with Old Frisian ''mere'', Old Saxon ''meri'', Old Dutch ''*meri'' and Old High German ''meri''. It is cognate with West Frisian ''[[wiktionary:mar#Etymology_2_6|mar]]'', Dutch ''[[wiktionary:meer#Dutch|meer]]'', and German ''[[wiktionary:Meer#German|Meer]]''. Like the English lineage above, they also derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic ''*mari''. |
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The Proto-Indo-European root ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/móri|*móri]]'' spawned similar words in other European languages too: |
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*From Latin ''[[wiktionary:mare#Latin|mare]]'': Italian ''[[wiktionary:mare#Italian|mare]]'', Spanish ''[[wiktionary:mar#Spanish|mar]]'', French ''[[wiktionary:mer#French|mer]]'', Portuguese ''[[wiktionary:mar#Portuguese|mar]]''; |
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*From Old Celtic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/mori|*mori]]'': Irish ''[[wiktionary:muir|muir]]'', Welsh ''[[wiktionary:môr#Welsh|môr]]'', Breton ''[[wiktionary:mor#Breton|mor]]'', Cornish ''[[wiktionary:mor#Cornish|mor]]'', Manx ''[[wiktionary:mooir|mooir]]'' and Scottish Gaelic ''[[wiktionary:muir#Scottish_Gaelic|muir]]'', all of which mean "sea" in various forms. However, in the English lineage, the larger sense of "sea" has been obsolete since Middle English.<ref>{{oed|title1=mere|title2=Mere|day=22|month=January|year=2022}}</ref> |
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''Mere'' in the present instance refers to the names [[Buttermere]], [[Grasmere]], [[Kentmere]], [[Thirlmere]] and [[Windermere]], which are recorded from the late 12th or 13th century and would generally mean lake. The term "water" is used more often for the larger of the lakes<ref>Whaley, p.411</ref> although this is not strictly so as [[Blea Water]] is a tarn and smaller than all of the big lakes, with the exception of Elter Water. |
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===The origin of "water"=== |
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The word ''water'' comes from ... |
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==Glacial origins== |
==Glacial origins== |
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===Human interference=== |
===Human interference=== |
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The once ebb and flow of ice and, in much more recent times, people, continue to have an effect on the natural backdrop of the second oldest national park in England.<ref group="lower-alpha">The Lake District National Park was formed on 9 May, 1951, second after that of the Peak District, which was formed on 17 April, 1951.</ref> The reservoirs of [[Haweswater]] and [[Thirlmere]] were once natural lakes. They were dammed to raise the water level in a bid to supply fresh water for the people of Manchester, at a price that flooded the valleys, damaging the flora and fauna within them. |
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<!--THIS SECTION REQUIRES MORE DETAIL--> |
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==List of the main lakes== |
==List of the main lakes== |
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The lakes have been immortalised in text and image by the very people, past and present, with a passion for this rugged landscape. The big lakes are the quintessence of Lakeland, and listed below are 17 bodies of water that give this National Park its name. How these are classified, one could rightly surmise, is by size. Whilst the humble [[tarn]] is usually reserved for the smaller bodies of water, size alone is not the only trait for the lakes. Some tarns are bigger than the smallest of the big lakes, for example, [[Burnmoor Tarn]] near [[Wast Water]], and [[Seathwaite Tarn]] near the [[Old Man of Coniston]], both of which are bigger than [[Elter Water]] and [[Brothers Water]].<ref>Smith (2014), p.8.</ref> |
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Not only the ice, but people too, are responsible for changing the landscape. [[Haweswater]] and [[Thirlmere]] are reservoirs, although the former was once a natural lake. It was dammed to raise the water level in a bid to supply fresh water for the people of Manchester, at a price that flooded two Cumbrian villages, now lost to the murky darkness. The once ebb and flow of ice and, in much more recent times, people, continue to have an effect on the natural backdrop of the second oldest national park in England after the Peak District.<ref group="lower-alpha">The Lake District National Park was formed on 9 May, 1951, second after that of the Peak District, which was formed on 17 April, 1951.</ref> |
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One could easily say that each of the lakes have their own distinctive character, companioned by the landscape in which they sit. Size, depth, inflows, outflows, location, and human intervention all play a vital role in our understanding of these expanses of water, which, seen from above, appear to radiate outwards from a central point near the fell of [[High Raise (Langdale)|High Raise]] in Langdale. |
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Each lake below is the subject of a |
Each lake below is the subject of a brief overview, with a link to the lake's main article (when these have been written). |
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===Bassenthwaite Lake=== |
===Bassenthwaite Lake=== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist|20em}} |
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[[Category:Lakes of the Lake District]] |
[[Category:Lakes of the Lake District]] |
Revision as of 12:06, 27 April 2023
The lakes of the Lake District are creations of nature; beautiful and inspiring. The National Park is home to the deepest lake. It is also home to the four largest lakes in England and Wales.[1] Set against a backdrop of Lakeland mountains, known locally as fells, one can easily conjure up thoughts of bygone authors and poets who so loved their craft; forever sealing a picturesque impression of a romanticised setting in one of the wettest parts of the UK.
Water is abundant here; reason alone for its green hues in summer and long, grey winters. There are hundreds of bodies of water in the Lake District, ranging in size from the largest lakes to the smallest pools, many more than most people would ever care to visit. The popular destinations are what brings the masses here to break away from everyday routine. From hardcore hikers and cyclists to the casual, fair-weather day trippers, visitors to the area who explore this great outdoors, do so because its appeal draws them in, time and time again. The lakes are just one, albeit predominantly so, reason for this influx of people every year.
By name alone, the Lake district has only one lake of the 17 main lakes throughout the National Park – Bassenthwaite Lake, which is nestled in the northern region of the park's periphery. There is a general misconception that Windermere, the largest of the lakes, is prefixed with the word Lake to differentiate it from the small town of the same name. Lake Windermere or Windermere Lake are not official titles, but are used extensively as a means of identifying the lake instead of the town. This grammatical construct (tautology) typifies the redundancy of the word lake, which is not needed due to mere already being present. Also, Windermere Town just sounds a little odd, with town being superfluous.
Although the Lake District has only one body of water with lake in the title, the remaining 16 of the big lakes are named with mere or water. These words are synonymous with the lakes born in this wide open land, either by glacial withdrawal or by human intervention.
Etymology
Before we move on, it is interesting to learn from where these words are derived. Lake District place names take a lot of influence from Old Norse as well as Old English. Some words follow a natural progression through time, others do not and can change dramatically with entirely different meanings. Words can also be cognate with, and influenced by, other languages. A simple appreciation of these can provide a broader understanding of the words we use today.
The three words lake, mere, and water all come from a Proto-Germanic background, however, lake is a little more complicated as it is a merger of two different words from French and English. The French lineage ascends back to Proto-Italic, which spawned the Romance languages (Italian, French, Spanish etc.) What is interesting, all three of these words ultimately refer to a "body of water" of some sort, with subtle variations depending on size and usage. Cognates are also strikingly similar as to be expected, which show how these words developed and changed through time to mean something similar to, or even the same as, their ancestor equivalent.
Rather than discuss this in length here, it is best if these are broken down into more detail separately.
Words prefixed with a * are reconstructed words. This means they have not been directly attested, but instead are hypothesised to have existed based on comparative evidence.
Glacial origins
The term "ice age" can be somewhat ambiguous. The earth is in an ice age called the Quaternary glaciation, which began around 2.58 million years ago and has had many periods of glacial advance and retreat. We are still in this ice age, as suggested by the ice caps present at the poles. However, we are currently experiencing an interglacial or warmer period. In the UK this period is called the Flandrian interglacial.[a] This led to retreating ice that left us with glacially "plucked" and eroded valleys that formed the lake district we see today.
Plucking and abrasion
Human interference
The once ebb and flow of ice and, in much more recent times, people, continue to have an effect on the natural backdrop of the second oldest national park in England.[b] The reservoirs of Haweswater and Thirlmere were once natural lakes. They were dammed to raise the water level in a bid to supply fresh water for the people of Manchester, at a price that flooded the valleys, damaging the flora and fauna within them.
List of the main lakes
The lakes have been immortalised in text and image by the very people, past and present, with a passion for this rugged landscape. The big lakes are the quintessence of Lakeland, and listed below are 17 bodies of water that give this National Park its name. How these are classified, one could rightly surmise, is by size. Whilst the humble tarn is usually reserved for the smaller bodies of water, size alone is not the only trait for the lakes. Some tarns are bigger than the smallest of the big lakes, for example, Burnmoor Tarn near Wast Water, and Seathwaite Tarn near the Old Man of Coniston, both of which are bigger than Elter Water and Brothers Water.[2]
One could easily say that each of the lakes have their own distinctive character, companioned by the landscape in which they sit. Size, depth, inflows, outflows, location, and human intervention all play a vital role in our understanding of these expanses of water, which, seen from above, appear to radiate outwards from a central point near the fell of High Raise in Langdale.
Each lake below is the subject of a brief overview, with a link to the lake's main article (when these have been written).
Bassenthwaite Lake
- Main article: Bassenthwaite Lake
Brothers Water
- Main article: Brothers Water
Buttermere
- Main article: Buttermere
Coniston Water
- Main article: Coniston Water
Crummock Water
- Main article: Crummock Water
Derwentwater
- Main article: Derwentwater
Elter Water
- Main article: Elter Water – The smallest of the lakes
Ennerdale Water
- Main article: Ennerdale Water
Esthwaite Water
- Main article: Esthwaite Water
Grasmere
- Main article: Grasmere'
Haweswater
- Main article: Haweswater (Reservoir)
Haweswater was once a much smaller natural lake, sitting against a backdrop of farmland and a diverse habitat for flora and fauna. A natural promontory called an arcuate delta, formed by sedimentary deposits from Measand Beck, almost divided the lake in two with only a narrow section called the straits separating the smaller basins of High Water and Low Water, evident in the old OS maps.
Due to Manchester’s increasing demand for drinking water, parliament granted the Manchester Corporation permission to dam the northern end of the lake, and create a water supply reservoir. This came at a cost to the long-time residents of the valley. The original water level of the lake was raised by 29 metres,[3] the damming resulted in the relocation of the residents who lived in the villages of Mardale, Measand and a scattering of other farmsteads. Abandoned buildings were demolished by the Royal Engineers, including the Dun Bull Inn and Holy Trinity Church, but the drystone field boundary walls and the old chapel bridge still survive, seen when the water levels are unusually low.[4]
Nature finds a way to recover and today, Haweswater is a haven for wildlife including red squirrels and small mountain ringlet butterflies. It is the highest lake in the National Park[5] and the landowners, United Utilities, are working in partnership with the RSPB[6] to ensure the area is protected for the future – see Wild Haweswater There is a circular walking route around the reservoir along with various trails through ancient woodland.
Loweswater
- Main article: Loweswater
Rydal Water
- Main article: Rydal Water
Thirlmere
- Main article: Thirlmere (Reservoir)
Ullswater
- Main article: Ullswater – The 2nd largest of the lakes
Wast Water
- Main article: Wast Water – The deepest of the lakes
Windermere
- Main article: Windermere – The largest of the lakes
Further reading
- 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
- Whaley, Diana (2006). A Dictionary of Lake District Place-Names. English Place-Name Society. School of English Studies, University of Nottingham
Notes
- ↑ The Flandrian interglacial period started at the end of the Devensian glaciation (also known as the last glacial period) which was at its maximum approximately 22,000 years ago. This cold period had come to end around 11,700 years ago after which the earth saw a period of warming, the period that we are currently in.
- ↑ The Lake District National Park was formed on 9 May, 1951, second after that of the Peak District, which was formed on 17 April, 1951.
References
- ↑ Smith (2012), p.3.
- ↑ Smith (2014), p.8.
- ↑ Smith (2012), p.101
- ↑ Smith (2012), p.103
- ↑ Haweswater Reservoir United Utilities. Accessed 26 April, 2023.
- ↑ Haweswater Reservoir RSPB. Accessed 26 April, 2023.