The English Lakes

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'''St. Herbert's Island''', sometimes called by its fictional counterpart, Owl Island, from Beatrix Potter's ''The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin'', is one of four main islands of [[Derwentwater]].  Located roughly in the middle of the lake, it makes for a great day's canoeing, exploring the 4–5 acres of woodland, shoreline, and soaking up the history associated with its long-ago resident, St. Herbert of Derwentwater. The island was also used as the backdrop for filming scenes from Arthur Ransome's class children's adventure novel, Swallows and Amazons. From the water, the island looks fairly densely populated with coniferous and deciduous broadleaf trees, especially during the summer months; a thick foliage of green blanketing the entirety of the island, with only a sliver of pebble coastline around its exterior. On land, however, the island’s woodland provides small pockets where the canopy allows for dappled sunlight to enter the leaf-strewn floor. The trees are mature, and looking up at these island giants, makes you wonder how this place would have looked during the occupation of Herbert the anchorite. Along with its much smaller neighbour, [[Rampsholme Island]], named after the raven (Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:Hrafn|Hrafn]]'') or wild garlic (Old English ''[[wiktionary:hramsa|hramsa]]''), both islands are densely populated with coniferous and deciduous trees.▼
|latitude = 54.581345
|longitude = -3.1474898
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|os grid = NY 25932 21288
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|image = St. Herbert's Island - geograph.org.uk - 6224294.jpg
|caption = St. Herbert's Island <small>(Source: Wikimeida Commons)</small>
}}
▲'''St. Herbert's Island''', sometimesis calledone byof itsfour fictionalmain counterpart,islands Owlof Island[[Derwentwater]], fromthe Beatrixother Potterthree being [[Lord's ''TheIsland]], Tale[[Rampsholme ofIsland]], Squirreland Nutkin'',[[Derwent isIsland]]. oneAll ofare fourowned mainby islandsthe ofNational [[Derwentwater]]Trust.  Located roughly in the middle of the lake, it makes for a great day's canoeing, exploring the 4–5 acres of woodland, shoreline, and soaking up the history associated with its long-ago resident, St. Herbert of Derwentwater. The island was also used as the backdrop for filming scenes from Arthur Ransome's class children's adventure novel, Swallows and Amazons, and fans of Beatrix Potter may already know it by the name Owl Island, from ''The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin''. From the water, the island looks fairly densely populated with coniferous and deciduous broadleaf trees, especially during the summer months; a thick foliage of green blanketing the entirety of the island, with only a sliver of pebbleshingle coastline around its exterior. On land, however, the island’s woodland provides small pockets where the canopy allows for dappled sunlight to enter the leaf-strewn floor. The trees are mature, and looking up at these island giants, makes you wonder how this place would have looked during theHerbert's occupation. ofWas Herbertit theopen anchorite.and barren, or have there always been trees here? Along with its closest and much smaller neighbour, [[Rampsholme Island]], either named after the raven (Old Norse ''[[wiktionary:Hrafn|Hrafn]]'') or wild garlic (Old English ''[[wiktionary:hramsa|hramsa]]''), both islands sit just north of the deepest point of the lake, which is situated near [[Barrow Bay]].<ref>Smith 2012, p.18</ref> St. Herbert's Island is not a rocky protuberance, such as Norfolk Island at [[Ullwater]], instead it, and all the other islands of this lake, are densely"oval-shaped populatedmounds with coniferousof glacial till, part of the hummocky drumlins field at the northern end of the lake near [[Keswick]].<ref>Smith 2012, p.24</ref> In other words, the islands have been formed by a process where rock and deciduoussedimentary treesmaterial has drifted, and subsequently deposited, by glacial movement.
 
HisHerbert's hermitage would have been a simple affair. But the passage of 1300 years since his arrival bears the realisation that finding any trace of his original monk's cell is unlikely.<ref name="nthr-chapel">[https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA118894 Possible Remains of Chapel, St. Herbert's Isle] National Trust Heritage Records Online. Accessed 30 January, 2024</ref> That said, the island does contain remains, but these are likely to be those of a 14th century chapel, built primarily as a site of pilgrimage to remember the saint. InHerbert life, and after his deathdied on 20 March, 687,. In the decades and centuries after his followersdeath, pilgrims would sail from [[Friar's Crag]] to visit the island.<ref>[http://www.stgeorgeministry.com/british-saints-8-herbert/ onBritish pilgrimageSaints #8 Herbert] St. He was,George afterOthodox Ministry. Accessed 4 allFebruary, a bit2024.</ref> In death he had become somewhat of a celebrity round these parts, eventhe ifvery thatopposite was neverof his intentionintentions, as we will see later on. The National Trust Heritage Records Online states:
 
<blockquote>The ruins now in the middle of St. Herbert's Island are most probably those of the chapel built there in 1374, when the site of St Herbert's hermitage became the object of a yearly parish pilgrimage (Lees, T. 1885). The actual site of the chapel is not clear, although what appears as a likely building platform occupies an area of around 5m by 8m, some edged stone work which has survived also suggests that a building or chapel once existed here. The discovery of a 'fishing lodge' highlighted on the 1867 1st edition Ordnance Survey map in a similar position to the building platform recorded during the survey has made interpretation a little more difficult. The fishing lodge has not appeared in any descriptions, and does not feature even as a ruin or earthwork on later maps. The actual building might have been of rude construction and relatively short-lived. It is possible that the remains on St Herbert's Isle could relate to the nineteenth century fishing lodge, and the building platform and stone edging a remnant from this building. However, it is equally likely that the platform was a product of a much earlier construction such as the pilgrimage chapel, and the fishing lodge merely re-used the built-up ground as a good flat spot.<ref name="nthr-chapel"/></blockquote>
 
There is more to this site than one might have originally thought. Searching these records shows that the island contains multiple remains from different time periods, from post-medieval onwards. Across the island there are remains of walls, a possible revetment (retaining wall), and a whole host of jetties. To the untrained eye, these look nothing more than an assortment of stones and rubble, yet these are protected as a World Heritage Site, and therefore, hold significance. Which is why it is important the island is treated with respect. The National Trust allows landing and picnics on the island, but to ensure the delicate ecosystem is protected, they do not allow camping, fires or BBQs.<ref>[https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/lake-district/borrowdale-and-derwent-water/activities-on-derwent-water# Activities on Derwent Water] The National Trust. Accessed 30 January, 2024.</ref> People still camp here. There are videos on YouTube of them doing so. TreadingSo it becomes all the more important that treading carefully and leaving no trace is the best policy to ensure the island can still be visited by future generations.
 
Learning of the geography of the island lends to learning about it’s history. It is widely known that the island long ago once supported the hermit priest, Herbert. Here, in this beautiful location surrounded by the fells of Borrowdale, Above Derwent, Underskiddaw, and KeswickUnderskiddaw lies a history of Herbert of Derwentwater.
 
 
<div class="res-img-1200">[[File:Woodland on St. Herbert's Island - geograph.org.uk - 6224293.jpg]]{{c|{{smaller|Woodland on St, Herbert's Island. <small>Source: Wikimedia Commons</small>}}}}</div>
 
==Herbert of Derwentwater==
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Although both men shared a common spirituality, they were dissimilar in nature. Where the Bishop was "an eminent preacher in his day, whose eloquence influenced the will of many, and whose active zeal contributed to the advancement of the then dominant church, of which he was one of the main pillars and rulers. St. Herbert was altogether a man of prayer. He retired from this world to this solitude, and passed his days in devotion."<ref>Armistead 1891, p.24.</ref> Indeed, Cuthbert was an influential figure, and this may have been the spark of a spiritual friendship, which through the passage of time, was mutually respected. With Herbert's devotion to his counsel, it is not far from the realm of possibility that Herbert withdrew to his island cell under his friend's advice, and there he remained living the life he wanted.  
 
Newman's 1844 text discusses the importance of the decision to live an eremitical life. It cannot be something taken lightly "without a special divine inspiration, calling a man to it; and then it is not simply allowable, but a duty."<ref name="newman40"/>Newman 1844, p.40.</ref> To enter such a life as Herbert did, takes a special preparatory discipline of self-control, and an understanding of the "severe hardihood in bearing with privations, humility, submission, and affectionate forgetfulness of self. That such a training had been gone through by St. Herbert, seems implied in his retirement being the consequence of advice from St. Cuthbert, whose own life had been one of so much active exertion for the good of others; and in the humility and affectionate submission which appear so strongly to have marked his character."<ref name="newman40"/> Cuthbert himself had been living a contemplative and austere life shortly after his retirement in 676, placing him in good stead to prepare Herbert for such a life, and the commitment to that life he would have to endure as an anchorite.
 
Living as a hermit would have been a tough life, especially by today's standards. A small cell with virtually no comforts, and only the clothes on your back is a stern commitment to the cause. To get an understanding of this, we should first take a look at the country in which he retired. In part it was occupied by the native Cymry, the Brythonic-speaking Celtic tribes of Britons (Cymru is the Celtic name of the modern Latinised Cumbria). They retained their own client-kings, who were subject to the Anglo-Saxons. Cumbric was the Celtic tongue, foreign in language and habits to the Anglian’s. There would have been some form of bilingual culture between the peoples, due to Anglian expansion of the lower-lying lands around its mountainous core. Under the rule of the Northumbrians, Carlisle still retained it Roman civitas status, the social body of the citizens united by law. It provided a frontier against the Picts or Caledonians, but it’s social rule had not found kindred spirits in the Celtic people, or their way of life. They were fundamentally different peoples, governed in different ways, with socially different traditions. This was the world in which Herbert, a natural enemy of the local population, would have found himself in.<ref>Newman 1844, p.41.</ref>
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==External links==
The following link to the National Trust Heritage Records Online website.
*[https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA194601 Stones, St. Herbert's Island]
*[https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA194610 Wall, St. Herbert's Island]
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*[https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA194602 Pathway, St. Herbert's Island]
*[https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA194598 Jetty, St. Herbert's Island]
 
The other three are [[Lord's Island]], [[Rampsholme Island]], and [[Derwent Island]]. All of these islands are owned by the national Trust, 
 
==References==
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==Sources==
*Armistead, Wilson (1891). ''[https://archive.org/details/cu31924104091297/page/n5/mode/2up Tales and Legends of the English Lakes]''. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.
*Farmer, David Hugh (2011). [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_zJJtvK2_KsC&pg=PA108&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false The Oxford Dictionary of Saints] (5th ed.Edition). Oxford: University Press.
*Newman, J.H.John Henry (1844). ''[https://archive.org/details/a678908503newmuoft/page/n7/mode/2up Lives of the English Saints - Hermit Saints]''. London: James Toovey.
*Smith, Alan (2012). ''The Big Lakes of Lakeland''. The Landscapes of Cumbria No.5. Keswick: Rigg Side Publications.
 
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