Lake District National Park Guide, 11K


Lake District Guide, Link to Home Page, 4K

Lake District Guide, Link to Lake District A-Z, 4K

Lake District Guide, Link to Accommodation in the Lake District, 4K

Lake District Guide, Link to Other UK Town Guides, 4K

Lake District Guide, Link to UK Travel Advice, 4K



    History of the Lake District

    The dramatic landscape of the Lake District is the legacy of the last ice age when the area was encased in glaciers.

    As the ice age came to an end the glaciers began to melt and as they did so they carved dramatic valleys out of the countryside, leaving the steep slopes of the Lake District mountains behind.

    As well as the mountains, the glaciers left behind the lakes that give the area its name - over a hundred of them in all.

    For hundreds of years the land sustained numerous farming communities, and the area was also mined for copper, graphite and slate.

    The impact of farming can still be seen all over the countryside, for example in the traditional stone walls that snake across the dales.

    But it is the area's dramatic beauty that has been so central to the area's recent development.

    It was the work of poet William Wordsworth that first immortalised the beauty of the Lake District, and his work inspired several other poets and writers to visit the area.

    As word spread, the region began to attract more and more visitors, and by the middle of the 19th century the area was a favourite destination of well-to-do Victorians.

    This is evident in the number of towns that were born during the Victorian era, notably the town of Windermere that was founded in order to cater for the needs of 19th century visitors.

    The area was declared a National Park in 1951 and ever since it has been open to the public, whilst at the same time being carefully managed in order to preserve the countryside.

    Unfortunately the area's reputation is so wide spread that the summer months attract hundreds of thousands of visitors, transforming the picturesque towns into traffic clogged tourist resorts.

    To fully appreciate the rugged and isolated beauty of the region try to visit off-season, the months of May and October tend to be a bit quieter, particularly on weekdays.


    Copyright © 1995 to 2016 Smooth Hound Systems

    Smooth Hound Systems accepts no liability with regards to the accuracy of the information on this site.
    Users are advised to double check information such as dates, times, prices etc.