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BUTTERMERE, Cumberland - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

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[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer (1868)]
"BUTTERMERE, a township and chapelry in the parish of Brigham, and ward of Allerdale-above-Derwent, in the county of Cumberland, 9 miles to the S.W. of Keswick, and 10 S.E. of Cockermouth. The district is mountainous, and abounds in romantic and magnificent scenery. The hamlet is picturesquely seated in a deep valley, encompassed by lofty mountains, which reflect themselves on the surface of the lakes below. To the S.E. of the village is the lake from which it takes its name, along the margin of which are the peaks called High Crag, High-Style, and Red Pike. The lake is a mile and a quarter long and about half a mile broad, and is connected by a short stream with Crummock Water, N.W. of the village. This lake is 3 miles long, and lies between the lofty hills named Grasmoor and Melbreak. Both lakes contain trout and char. About 2 miles from the village is the fine waterfall called Scale Force, said to be unrivalled in the lake district. It has a perpendicular fall of nearly 200 feet, precipitating itself into a deep chasm between rocks of syenite, adorned with trees rooted in their crevices. There are extensive quarries of blue slate in the neighbourhood. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Carlisle, value £56, in the patronage of the Earl of Lonsdale. The church, a singularly small building, with a bell-turret, was erected in 1841, by the Rev. V. Thomas, at a cost of £300, on the site of the old chapel."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]