Coniston, Cumbria
Encyclopedia
Coniston is a village
and civil parish in the Furness
region of Cumbria
, England
. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park
, between Coniston Water
, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man; about 18 miles (29 km) north east of Barrow-in-Furness
.
of Lancashire
. Today Coniston forms part of the administrative county of Cumbria
.
and slate
mines. It grew in popularity as a tourist location during the Victorian era
, thanks partially to the construction of a branch of the Furness Railway
, which opened to passenger traffic in 1859 and terminated at Coniston railway station.
The poet
and social critic John Ruskin
also popularised the village, buying the mansion Brantwood
on the Eastern side of Coniston Water in 1871. Before his death, he rejected the chance to be buried in Westminster Abbey
, instead being laid to rest in the churchyard of St Andrews, Coniston. Ruskin Museum
, established in 1901, is both a memorial to Ruskin and a local museum covering the history and heritage of Coniston Water and the Lake District
.
The whole village was powered by hydroelectricity during the 1920s but this became so heavily taxed that the people there were forced to return to the national grid. Ironically, since 7 March 2007 a hydro-electric scheme has been in use to power up to 300 homes; being sited near the original.
, Coniston experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. Rainfall is high, at not much under 2000mm a year. Temperature extremes have ranged from -15.2 C during February 1986, to 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) during August 1990. The nearest Met Office weather station is Grizedale, around 2.5 miles to the South East.
and Grizedale Forest
, and some of the finest rock in the Lake District on the eastern face of Dow Crag
, 3 miles (4.8 km) from the village. The Grizedale Stages rally also takes place in Coniston, using the surrounding Grizedale and Broughton Moor (or Postlethwaite Allotment) forests.
The creation of the national park in the 1950s provided a further boost to tourism, with attractions such as the John Ruskin Museum and ferry services across the lake developing. Donald Campbell
added to the profile of the village and lake when he broke 4 World Water Speed Records on the lake in the 1950s. He died attempting to break the world water speed record for the eighth time in 1967, when his jet boat, "Bluebird K7
", crashed at 290 mile per hour, having already set the record for the seventh time at Dumbleyung Lake
, Western Australia in 1964. His body and boat (Bluebird K7
) were discovered and recovered by divers in 2001 and he was buried in the new graveyard in Coniston in September 2001. A new wing has been built at the Ruskin Museum to accommodate the fully restored Bluebird K7 boat. It opened in late 2009 with the K7 due to arrive in late 2011 or early 2012.
The village is also home to a number of hotels and two Youth Hostels, one at the edge of the village, the other in the nearby Coppermines Valley.
Two slate quarries still operate at Coniston, one in Coppermines Valley, the other at Brossen Stone on the east side of the Coniston Old Man. Both work Coniston's volcanic slates, being blue at Low-Brandy Crag in Coppermines Valley, and light green at Brossen Stone (bursting stone).
Coniston is also an important local centre, with a Secondary School (John Ruskin School
), Primary School (Coniston Church of England Primary School), bank, petrol station and other such services. It has also repeatedly been highly placed in the Village of the Year
award, winning it in 1997.
The scenery around Coniston derives from Coniston Limestone
and rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.
It is also the location of the fictional Lawson Park vivisection
research facility in the animated film of the Richard Adams' book The Plague Dogs
from which the two dogs escape.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the Furness
Furness
Furness is a peninsula in south Cumbria, England. At its widest extent, it is considered to cover the whole of North Lonsdale, that part of the Lonsdale hundred that is an exclave of the historic county of Lancashire, lying to the north of Morecambe Bay....
region of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is located in the north-west of England and is the largest of the English National Parks and the second largest in the United Kingdom. It is in the central and most-visited part of the Lake District....
, between Coniston Water
Coniston Water
Coniston Water in Cumbria, England is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. It is five miles long, half a mile wide, has a maximum depth of 184 feet , and covers an area of . The lake has an elevation of 143 feet above sea level...
, the third longest lake in the Lake District, and Coniston Old Man; about 18 miles (29 km) north east of Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
.
Geography and administration
Coniston is situated within the boundaries of the historic countyHistoric counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. Today Coniston forms part of the administrative county of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
.
History
Coniston grew as both a farming village, and to serve local copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
mines. It grew in popularity as a tourist location during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, thanks partially to the construction of a branch of the Furness Railway
Furness Railway
The Furness Railway was a railway company operating in the Furness area of Lancashire in North West England.-History:The company was established on May 23, 1844 when the Furness Railway Act was passed by Parliament...
, which opened to passenger traffic in 1859 and terminated at Coniston railway station.
The poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and social critic John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
also popularised the village, buying the mansion Brantwood
Brantwood
Brantwood is a country house in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people, including John Ruskin. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Ruskin...
on the Eastern side of Coniston Water in 1871. Before his death, he rejected the chance to be buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, instead being laid to rest in the churchyard of St Andrews, Coniston. Ruskin Museum
Ruskin Museum
Ruskin Museum is a small local museum in Coniston, Cumbria, northern England.It was established in 1901 by W. G. Collingwood, an artist and antiquarian who had worked as secretary to art critic John Ruskin...
, established in 1901, is both a memorial to Ruskin and a local museum covering the history and heritage of Coniston Water and the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
.
The whole village was powered by hydroelectricity during the 1920s but this became so heavily taxed that the people there were forced to return to the national grid. Ironically, since 7 March 2007 a hydro-electric scheme has been in use to power up to 300 homes; being sited near the original.
Climate
As with the rest of the British IslesBritish Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, Coniston experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. Rainfall is high, at not much under 2000mm a year. Temperature extremes have ranged from -15.2 C during February 1986, to 30.3 °C (86.5 °F) during August 1990. The nearest Met Office weather station is Grizedale, around 2.5 miles to the South East.
Present day
Coniston is a popular spot for hill-walking and rock-climbing; there are fine walks to be had on the nearby Furness FellsFurness Fells
The Furness Fells are those hills and mountains in the Furness region of Cumbria, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the Furness Fells or High Furness is the name given to the upland part of Furness, that is, that part of Furness lying north of the line between Ulverston and Ireleth...
and Grizedale Forest
Grizedale Forest
Grizedale Forest is a 24.47 km² area of woodland in the Lake District of North West England, located to the east of Coniston Water and to the south of Hawkshead. It comprises a number of hills, small tarns and the settlements of Grizedale and Satterthwaite...
, and some of the finest rock in the Lake District on the eastern face of Dow Crag
Dow Crag
Dow Crag is a fell in the English Lake District near Coniston, Cumbria. The eastern face is one of the many rock faces in the Lake District used for rock climbing....
, 3 miles (4.8 km) from the village. The Grizedale Stages rally also takes place in Coniston, using the surrounding Grizedale and Broughton Moor (or Postlethwaite Allotment) forests.
The creation of the national park in the 1950s provided a further boost to tourism, with attractions such as the John Ruskin Museum and ferry services across the lake developing. Donald Campbell
Donald Campbell
Donald Malcolm Campbell, CBE was a British speed record breaker who broke eight world speed records in the 1950s and 1960s...
added to the profile of the village and lake when he broke 4 World Water Speed Records on the lake in the 1950s. He died attempting to break the world water speed record for the eighth time in 1967, when his jet boat, "Bluebird K7
Bluebird K7
Bluebird K7 was a turbo jet-engined hydroplane with which the United Kingdom's Donald Campbell set seven world water speed records during the 1950s and 1960s. Campbell lost his life in K7 on January 4, 1967 whilst making a bid to raise the speed record to over on Coniston Water.-Design:Donald...
", crashed at 290 mile per hour, having already set the record for the seventh time at Dumbleyung Lake
Dumbleyung Lake
Dumbleyung Lake, also widely known as Lake Dumbleyung, is a salt lake in Western Australia. It is located at , in the Great Southern region of Western Australia...
, Western Australia in 1964. His body and boat (Bluebird K7
Bluebird K7
Bluebird K7 was a turbo jet-engined hydroplane with which the United Kingdom's Donald Campbell set seven world water speed records during the 1950s and 1960s. Campbell lost his life in K7 on January 4, 1967 whilst making a bid to raise the speed record to over on Coniston Water.-Design:Donald...
) were discovered and recovered by divers in 2001 and he was buried in the new graveyard in Coniston in September 2001. A new wing has been built at the Ruskin Museum to accommodate the fully restored Bluebird K7 boat. It opened in late 2009 with the K7 due to arrive in late 2011 or early 2012.
The village is also home to a number of hotels and two Youth Hostels, one at the edge of the village, the other in the nearby Coppermines Valley.
Two slate quarries still operate at Coniston, one in Coppermines Valley, the other at Brossen Stone on the east side of the Coniston Old Man. Both work Coniston's volcanic slates, being blue at Low-Brandy Crag in Coppermines Valley, and light green at Brossen Stone (bursting stone).
Coniston is also an important local centre, with a Secondary School (John Ruskin School
John Ruskin School
John Ruskin School is an 11–16 school on Lake Road in Coniston, Cumbria. The school is part of the Rural Academy, a group of nine small schools in Cumbria which was awarded Technology College status in 2004, and a member of the South Lakes Federation of Schools...
), Primary School (Coniston Church of England Primary School), bank, petrol station and other such services. It has also repeatedly been highly placed in the Village of the Year
Calor Village of the Year
The Calor Village of the Year comprised 4 annual competitions organised by gas provider Calor to identify the villages that best met the following criteria: "a well-balanced, pro-active, caring community which has made the best of local opportunities to maintain and enhance the quality of life for...
award, winning it in 1997.
The scenery around Coniston derives from Coniston Limestone
Coniston Limestone
Coniston Limestone is the sedimentary rock formation around Coniston in the English Lake District, and forms part of the Windermere Supergroup. It is late Ordovician or possibly early Silurian in age and rests unconformably upon the Borrowdale Volcanic Group of rocks, which subsided beneath the...
and rocks of the Borrowdale Volcanic Group.
It is also the location of the fictional Lawson Park vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
research facility in the animated film of the Richard Adams' book The Plague Dogs
The Plague Dogs
The Plague Dogs is the third novel by Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, about two dogs who escape an animal testing facility and are subsequently pursued by both the government and the media...
from which the two dogs escape.
See also
- Coniston HallConiston HallConiston Hall is a former house on the west bank of Coniston Water in the English Lake District . It is a Grade II* listed building.The house dates from the late 16th century, or possibly earlier. It is built in stone rubble with a slate roof...
- Coniston Mountain Rescue Team
- John Ruskin SchoolJohn Ruskin SchoolJohn Ruskin School is an 11–16 school on Lake Road in Coniston, Cumbria. The school is part of the Rural Academy, a group of nine small schools in Cumbria which was awarded Technology College status in 2004, and a member of the South Lakes Federation of Schools...
External links
- Coniston at All Experts
- Coniston.uk.com
- Coniston Community Website
- Coniston Mountain Rescue Team
- Coniston Webcam - A view of Coniston village.