Moss Eccles Tarn
Encyclopedia
Moss Eccles Tarn is a tarn
on Claife Heights
, near Near Sawrey
in the Lake District
, Cumbria
. It is currently owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
and known as an attractive tarn for fishing and walking. It is known for its association with Beatrix Potter
– she owned the tarn and donated it to the National Trust after her death, and it served as inspiration for some of her stories.
. Alfred Wainwright
calls it the "most attractive" tarn on Claife Heights; it is stocked with water lilies
and fish, and surrounded by rhododendron
s. The outflow is bridged by a small dam
. The tarn is best reached by following a track from Near Sawrey
, a small village between Hawkshead
and Windermere
.
, noting that none of the tarns on Claife Heights appear on 19th-century maps. He notes, however, that they are "not obtrusively artificial". After Beatrix Potter
and her husband William Heelis married in 1913, they lived in Castle Cottage in Far Sawrey and rowed on the tarn in summer evenings. Potter sketched near the tarn and her husband fished in it. In 1926, Potter bought part of the tarn, planting the water lilies and stocking it with fish. Along with much other land, it was left to the National Trust by Potter upon her death in 1943. It was probably a combination of Moss Eccles Tarn and Esthwaite Water
that served as inspiration for the home of Jeremy Fisher in The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
; the road to the tarn from Near Sawrey was also drawn by Potter for The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding. The "strange, flat bottomed boat" in which Potter and Heelis rowed is now housed in the Windermere Steamboat Museum
; it was salvaged from the tarn in 1976.
with brown trout
, and the fishing rights are controlled by the Windermere, Ambleside and District Anglish Association on behalf of the National Trust. The membership of the association is open, and tickets to fish in the tarn can be bought from local pubs, service stations and fishing shops. There is a limit to two fish per day per person.
Tarn (lake)
A tarn is a mountain lake or pool, formed in a cirque excavated by a glacier. A moraine may form a natural dam below a tarn. A corrie may be called a cirque.The word is derived from the Old Norse word tjörn meaning pond...
on Claife Heights
Claife Heights
Claife Heights is a Marilyn in the Lake District, near to Windermere in Cumbria, England....
, near Near Sawrey
Near Sawrey
Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria. They are located in the Lake District between the town of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere...
in 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...
, 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...
. It is currently owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and known as an attractive tarn for fishing and walking. It is known for its association with Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
– she owned the tarn and donated it to the National Trust after her death, and it served as inspiration for some of her stories.
Description
The tarn is on Claife HeightsClaife Heights
Claife Heights is a Marilyn in the Lake District, near to Windermere in Cumbria, England....
. Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, published between 1955 and 1966 and consisting entirely of reproductions of his manuscript, has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the...
calls it the "most attractive" tarn on Claife Heights; it is stocked with water lilies
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
and fish, and surrounded by rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s. The outflow is bridged by a small dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
. The tarn is best reached by following a track from Near Sawrey
Near Sawrey
Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria. They are located in the Lake District between the town of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere...
, a small village between Hawkshead
Hawkshead
Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in the Cumbria, England. It is one of the main tourist honeypots in the South Lakeland area, and is dependent on the local tourist trade...
and Windermere
Windermere
Windermere is the largest natural lake of England. It is also a name used in a number of places, including:-Australia:* Lake Windermere , a reservoir, Australian Capital Territory * Lake Windermere...
.
History
Wainwright contends the "tarn" to be a reservoirReservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
, noting that none of the tarns on Claife Heights appear on 19th-century maps. He notes, however, that they are "not obtrusively artificial". After Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
and her husband William Heelis married in 1913, they lived in Castle Cottage in Far Sawrey and rowed on the tarn in summer evenings. Potter sketched near the tarn and her husband fished in it. In 1926, Potter bought part of the tarn, planting the water lilies and stocking it with fish. Along with much other land, it was left to the National Trust by Potter upon her death in 1943. It was probably a combination of Moss Eccles Tarn and Esthwaite Water
Esthwaite Water
Esthwaite Water is one of the smaller and lesser known lakes in the Lake District national park in northern England. It is situated between the much larger lakes of Windermere and Coniston Water, in the traditional county of Lancashire; since 1974 in the administrative county of Cumbria...
that served as inspiration for the home of Jeremy Fisher in The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1906. Jeremy's origin lies in a letter she wrote to a child in 1893. She revised it in 1906, and moved its setting from the River Tay to the English Lake...
; the road to the tarn from Near Sawrey was also drawn by Potter for The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding. The "strange, flat bottomed boat" in which Potter and Heelis rowed is now housed in the Windermere Steamboat Museum
Windermere Steamboat Museum
The Windermere Steamboat Museum was formed by the boat collector G. H. Pattinson, and was located on the former Sand and Gravel Wharf between Bowness-on-Windermere and the town of Windermere, on the eastern shore of Windermere in Cumbria, England. In 2007, the museum was taken over by the Lakeland...
; it was salvaged from the tarn in 1976.
Fishing
The tarn is stockedFish stock
Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters are the only significant factors in determining population dynamics, while extrinsic factors are considered to be insignificant.-The stock concept:All species have geographic limits to their...
with brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, and the fishing rights are controlled by the Windermere, Ambleside and District Anglish Association on behalf of the National Trust. The membership of the association is open, and tickets to fish in the tarn can be bought from local pubs, service stations and fishing shops. There is a limit to two fish per day per person.