Moss Force
Encyclopedia
Moss Force is a waterfall situated within the Lake District National Park
in the English
county of Cumbria
. It is located 10 km SW of the town of Keswick
at Newlands Hause, the pass
between the Newlands Valley
and the Buttermere
Valley. It is part of Alfred Wainwright
's famous "Wainwright Memorial Walk," and its beauty was celebrated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
.
. The Beck rises at a height of 540 metres, flowing across a boggy area known as Buttermere Moss before plunging down from a height of 420 metres in three distinct sections to form Moss Force. The top section, which is also the highest cascade, is split by an outcrop of rock and falls into a small pool surrounded by a few Rowan
trees, then continues downwards through two smaller cascades. The middle cascade falls into a larger pool which has scattered Juniper
around it. The bottom cascade is smallest of the three, after which the Beck enters a small wooded gorge containing further smaller falls. The Beck then levels out in the bottom of the Newlands Valley as it is joined by High Hole Beck and becomes Keskadale Beck.
Moss Force is a popular stop with visitors and tourists. The falls are visited by many motorists and passengers from some of the Lake District tour buses which stop at Newlands Hause. There are two paths from the Hause to the foot of both the upper and middle cascades, although a little scrambling over rock is required to reach the foot of the upper falls. Moss Force is a grade III Winter Ice Climb
, a 110 metre climb in total, and is divided into four sections, of 15, 25, 50 and 20 metres. The upper falls are the longest and the most difficult of the sections and the protruding outcrop can be passed on either side. The final 20 metre section is a less steep part of the Force at its very highest point, which leads on to Buttermere Moss.
The falls are along the way of the "Wainwright Memorial Walk," a 102-mile walk devised by famed British fellwalker and writer Alfred Wainwright
in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
, and are included in numerous British walking tours and guides.
visited Moss Force in 1802; he waited until the Force was in spate after heavy rain and explored the falls in September of that year. Coleridge recorded the visit in a private letter to Sara Hutchinson, saying of the upper cascade:
Father Thomas West
, in his Guide to the Lakes (1778), described the Force as "a mountain of purple coloured rock presenting a thousand chasms".
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....
in the English
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...
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...
. It is located 10 km SW of the town of Keswick
Keswick, Cumbria
Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
at Newlands Hause, the pass
Mountain pass
A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...
between the Newlands Valley
Newlands Valley
The Newlands Valley is in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is regarded as one of the most picturesque and quiet valleys in the national park, even though it is situated very close to the popular tourist town of Keswick and the busy A66 road.The valley forms part of the civil...
and the Buttermere
Buttermere
Buttermere is a lake in the English Lake District in North West England. The adjacent village of Buttermere takes its name from the lake. Historically within the former county of Cumberland, the lake is now within the county of Cumbria. It is owned by the National Trust, forming part of their...
Valley. It is part of 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...
's famous "Wainwright Memorial Walk," and its beauty was celebrated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
.
Description
Moss Force is approximately 100 metres (328 ft) high, standing on Moss Beck which flows off the fell of RobinsonRobinson (Lake District)
thumb|Robinson seen from the [[Ard Crags]] ridge, with Hindscarth to the leftRobinson is a fell in the English Lake District, its southern slopes descending to Buttermere, while its northern side is set in the Newlands Valley...
. The Beck rises at a height of 540 metres, flowing across a boggy area known as Buttermere Moss before plunging down from a height of 420 metres in three distinct sections to form Moss Force. The top section, which is also the highest cascade, is split by an outcrop of rock and falls into a small pool surrounded by a few Rowan
Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
trees, then continues downwards through two smaller cascades. The middle cascade falls into a larger pool which has scattered Juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
around it. The bottom cascade is smallest of the three, after which the Beck enters a small wooded gorge containing further smaller falls. The Beck then levels out in the bottom of the Newlands Valley as it is joined by High Hole Beck and becomes Keskadale Beck.
Moss Force is a popular stop with visitors and tourists. The falls are visited by many motorists and passengers from some of the Lake District tour buses which stop at Newlands Hause. There are two paths from the Hause to the foot of both the upper and middle cascades, although a little scrambling over rock is required to reach the foot of the upper falls. Moss Force is a grade III Winter Ice Climb
Ice climbing
Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water. For the purposes of...
, a 110 metre climb in total, and is divided into four sections, of 15, 25, 50 and 20 metres. The upper falls are the longest and the most difficult of the sections and the protruding outcrop can be passed on either side. The final 20 metre section is a less steep part of the Force at its very highest point, which leads on to Buttermere Moss.
The falls are along the way of the "Wainwright Memorial Walk," a 102-mile walk devised by famed British fellwalker and writer 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...
in his Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells
A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells is a series of seven books by A. Wainwright, detailing the fells of the Lake District in northwest England...
, and are included in numerous British walking tours and guides.
In literature
The poet Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
visited Moss Force in 1802; he waited until the Force was in spate after heavy rain and explored the falls in September of that year. Coleridge recorded the visit in a private letter to Sara Hutchinson, saying of the upper cascade:
- It is so near a perpendicular that it would have appeared to fall--but it is indeed so fearfully savage, & black, & jagged, that it tears the flood to pieces--and one great black Outjutment divides the water, & overbrows & keeps uncovered a long slip of jagged black Rock beneath, which gives a marked character to the whole force. What a sight it is to look down on such a Cataract!--the wheels, that circumvolve in it--the leaping up & plunging forward of that infinity of Pearls & Glass Bulbs--the continual change of the Matter, the perpetual Sameness of the Form-it is an awful Image & Shadow of God & the World.
Father Thomas West
Thomas West (clergyman)
Thomas West was a Jesuit priest, antiquary and author, significant in being one of the first to write about the attractions of the Lake District...
, in his Guide to the Lakes (1778), described the Force as "a mountain of purple coloured rock presenting a thousand chasms".