Grasmere

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Grasmere (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 54°27′29″N 3°01′29″W / 54.45809°N 3.024588°W / 54.45809; -3.024588

Grasmere
Grasmere 2, Cumbria - June 2009.jpg
Grasmere is located in Cumbria
Grasmere

 Grasmere shown within Cumbria
OS grid reference NY335074
Civil parish Lakes
District South Lakeland
Shire county Cumbria
Region North West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Dialling code 015394
Police Cumbria
Fire Cumbria
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
List of places
UK
England
Cumbria
Grasmere village and lake as seen from the fell of Stone Arthur

Grasmere is a village, and popular tourist destination, in the centre of the English Lake District. It takes its name from the adjacent lake, and is associated with the Lake Poets. The poet William Wordsworth, who lived in Grasmere for fourteen years, described it as "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found".[1]

Before 1974, Grasmere lay within the former county of Westmorland, but today it is part of the county of Cumbria.

Contents

Etymology [edit]

" 'The lake flanked by grass'; 'gres', 'mere'. Early spellings in 'Grys-', 'Gris(s)-' might suggest ON 'griss' 'young pig' as 1st el.[ement], but the weight of the evidence points to OE/ON 'gres' 'grass', with the modern form influenced by Standard English....The medial '-s(s)e-' may, as suggested by Ekwall in DEPN,[2] point to ON 'gres-saer' 'grass-lake' as the original name...".[3] Plus the element "'mere' OE, ModE 'lake, 'pool'."[4]

(OE is Old English, the language spoken until about AD 1100; ON is Old Norse.)

Geography [edit]

The village is on the river Rothay which flows into Grasmere lake which lies about 0.5 km to the south. The village is overlooked from the NW by the rocky hill of Helm Crag, popularly known as The Lion and the Lamb or the Old Lady at the Piano. These names are derived from the shape of rock formations on its summit, depending on which side you view it from.[5]

A number of popular walks begin near the centre of the village, including the ascent of Helm Crag and a longer route up to Fairfield. The village is also on the route of Alfred Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk.[6]

Grasmere Village

The A591 connects Grasmere to the Vale of Keswick over Dunmail Raise to the north, and Ambleside to the south. In other directions, Grasmere is surrounded by high ground. To the west, a long ridge comes down from High Raise and contains the lesser heights of Blea Rigg and Silver How. To the east, Grasmere is bordered by the western ridge of the Fairfield horseshoe.

Communal events [edit]

Rushbearing [edit]

Grasmere's famous Rushbearing Ceremony, centred on St Oswald's Church, has ancient origins. The present day ceremony is an annual event which features a procession through the village with bearings made from rushes and flowers. In this procession there are also six Maids of Honour, a brass band, the church choir, and anyone who wishes to join in by carrying their own decorated rushbearing.

St Oswald's Church, decorated for the Rushbearing Day

Grasmere Sports [edit]

The annual Grasmere Sports take place in August and were first held in 1852. This is the main event in the village's calendar and one of the most popular traditional events in the Lake District. Participants compete in a variety of sports, including Cumberland Wrestling, fell running and hound trails (similar to drag hunting).[7]

Dove Cottage

Grasmere gingerbread [edit]

Today's Grasmere Gingerbread is made to a "secret recipe" popularized by Sarah Nelson (1815-1904).[8][9] By the early nineteenth century, Grasmere gingerbread was already being sold as fairings, as well as being a popular seller in its own right.[10] Poet Dorothy Wordsworth wrote in 1803 that she and her brother William yearned for the gingerbread.[10]

Government [edit]

The former civil parish was for a time governed by an urban district council before becoming part of the Lakes UDC in 1934. The village is now part of Lakes Parish. Grasmere is currently represented by Liberal Democrat politicians on both the district council and county council, as well as at Westminster.[11][12][13] Grasmere has experienced population decline since the 1960s.[14]

Notable persons [edit]

  • William Wordsworth lived in Dove Cottage, in the hamlet of Townend, on the outskirts of Grasmere, from 1799. He occasionally used to breakfast with Sir Walter Scott at The Swan, a 17th century coaching inn that is still in use, just outside of the village on the A591 main road. In his poem "The Waggoner", Wordsworth asks "Who does not know the famous Swan?", a line which is quoted on the Swan's pub sign to this day. In 1808 he sold Dove Cottage to his friend Thomas de Quincey and moved to a larger house in the village, Allan Bank, where he lived until he moved to Rydal Mount, Rydal, in 1813. He is buried in the churchyard of St. Oswald's Church, Grasmere, alongside his wife, Mary and their family. His sister, Dorothy is also buried alongside him.[15]
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge also spent time at Dove Cottage and is said to have muttered stanzas from his poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" whilst walking across the fells to Grasmere.[16]
  • Fred Yates the painter lived at "Cote How" near Grasmere from 1900 until 1906. During this period he painted the future United States president Woodrow Wilson and John Haden Badley.
  • John Haden Badley, the progressive educationalist and author who founded Bedales School, often spent time with his sisters the Misses Badley at their home "Winterseeds" in Grasmere in the first half of the 20th century.
  • Sarah Nelson was the original maker of the famous Grasmere Gingerbread®, made to a secret recipe kept within the family to this day. A popular destination for mid-Victorian Lake District tourists right on up to today's international celebrities, the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop remains in the former village school, adjacent to St Oswald's Church.[17]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Retrieved on 2008-02-01
  2. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names (4th ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. l, 546. 
  3. ^ Whaley, Diana (2006). A dictionary of Lake District place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. pp. lx,423 p.136. ISBN 0904889726. 
  4. ^ Whaley, 2006, p.411,
  5. ^ Retrieved on 2008-02-07
  6. ^ http://www.wainwright.org.uk/coast_to_coast/index.html
  7. ^ Retrieved on 2008-02-03
  8. ^ Retrieved on 2012-08-27
  9. ^ Retrieved on 2012-08-27
  10. ^ a b Broomfield, Andrea (2007). Food and cooking in Victorian England : a history (1. publ. ed.). Westport: Praeger Publishers. pp. 161–163. ISBN 0-275-98708-6. 
  11. ^ http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=794&tblMemberID=114&orderby=&postcode=
  12. ^ http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/councillordata/db/details.asp?ID=91
  13. ^ http://www.timfarron.co.uk/
  14. ^ Retrieved on 2008-02-07
  15. ^ http://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/grasmere-st-oswalds-church.htm
  16. ^ Retrieved on 2008-02-06
  17. ^ http://www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk/theshop.htm
Portal icon Cumbria portal

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Grasmere
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grasmere&oldid=553506956"