Bowness-on-Windermere

Last updated

Bowness-on-Windermere
Town
Bowness on Windermere.jpg
Bowness-on-Windermere town centre
Location map United Kingdom South Lakeland.svg
Red pog.svg
Bowness-on-Windermere
Location in the former South Lakeland district
Cumbria UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Bowness-on-Windermere
Location within Cumbria
Population3,814 
OS grid reference SD403969
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
  • Cumbria
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WINDERMERE
Postcode district LA23
Dialling code 015394
Police Cumbria
Fire Cumbria
Ambulance North West
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cumbria
54°21′52″N2°55′05″W / 54.3644°N 2.9181°W / 54.3644; -2.9181
Looking northwards over Windermere Bowness-on-Windermere from a kite.jpg
Looking northwards over Windermere

Bowness-on-Windermere is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It lies next to Lake Windermere and the town of Windermere to the north east and within the Lake District National Park. The town was historically part of the county of Westmorland and it also forms an urban area with Windermere. The town had a population of 3,814 in the 2011 Census.

Contents

Etymology

'Bowness' (originally 'Bulnes') means " 'the headland where the bull grazes', from OE 'bula', 'bull' and OE 'næss', 'headland', perhaps referring to the keeping of the parish bull." [1] The 'on-Windermere' part was added later (found on the Ordnance Survey map of 1899).

History

The town's ancient parish church of St Martin was built in 1483 but of an older foundation. The former rectory is said to have been built in 1415. [2]

A grammar school was founded in about 1600. A new building was opened in 1836, funded by local landowner John Bolton of Storrs Hall. The foundation stone was laid by William Wordsworth. [3]

During the 19th century, Bowness grew from a small fishing village to a town living almost entirely off tourism and holiday homes. It was the centre of the boat-building industry that provided the sailing yachts, rowing boats and steam launches used on the lake. A large number of hotels and boarding houses gave employment to the permanent population of the town. Queen Adelaide visited Bowness in 1840, staying at the Royal Hotel. [3] The arrival of the railway in 1847 in Windermere (the residents of Bowness had opposed a station in their own town) provided much of the momentum for the growth.

Bowness-on-Windermere became a civil parish in 1894 [4] and an urban district council was formed for the town at the same time. In 1905, the council merged with that of Windermere, and the two civil parishes merged on 1 April 1974 under the name of Windermere. [5] The civil parish of Windermere is governed by a town council, Windermere and Bowness Town Council. [6]

Transport

Windermere railway station offers train and bus connections to the surrounding areas, Manchester, Manchester Airport and the West Coast Main Line, and is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the lakefront. Both Stagecoach and the local council provide frequent connecting buses from Bowness Pier; Stagecoach's open-top double-decker buses travel through the centre of town and continue to Ambleside and Grasmere, while the council's wheelchair-accessible minibuses run around the edge of town. The Windermere Ferry, a car carrying cable ferry, connects Bowness at Ferry Nab on the eastern side of the lake with Ferry House Far Sawrey on the western side of the lake, a trip of approximately 10 minutes. For those looking for a more leisurely way to travel, Windermere Lake Cruises operate regular lake cruises running from Bowness Bay to the north end of the lake at Ambleside and south end at Fell Foot.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and ITV Granada. Television signals are received from the local relay transmitter. [7]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria on 104.2 FM, Heart North West on 102.3 FM, Smooth Lake District on 100.8 FM, and community on-line stations are Lake District Radio [8] and Bay Trust Radio. [9]

The town's local newspapers are The Westmorland Gazette and North West Evening Mail. [10]

Readers of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of books will recognise Bowness as the lakeside town of 'Rio'. The collection at the Windermere Steamboat Museum on Rayrigg Road includes TSSY Esperance, 1869; one of the iron steamboats on which Ransome modelled Captain Flint's houseboat. Bowness-on-Windermere is also home to The World of Beatrix Potter attraction, opened in July 1991 by Victoria Wood.

View of Windermere from Bowness-on-Windermere Windermere0.jpg
View of Windermere from Bowness-on-Windermere

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbria</span> Ceremonial county of England

Cumbria is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Carlisle, which is also its county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambleside</span> Town in Cumbria, England

Ambleside is a town and former civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the head of Windermere, England's largest natural lake. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 2,596.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmorland</span> Historic county of England

Westmorland is an area of Northern England which was historically a county and is now fully part of Cumbria. People of the area are known as Westmerians. The area includes part of the Lake District and the southern Vale of Eden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere</span> Largest natural lake in England

Windermere or Lake Windermere is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the largest Scottish lochs and Northern Irish loughs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendal</span> Cumbrian town in England

Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of the Lake District National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere, Cumbria (town)</span> Town in Cumbria, England

Windermere is a town in the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England; it is within the Lake District National Park. The town lies about half a mile (1 km) east of the lake, Windermere, from which it takes its name. In 2021 it had a population of 4,826.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grange-over-Sands</span> English Victorian era town

Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District National Park. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 4,114, increasing at the 2021 census to 4,279. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the town became administered as an urban district in 1894. Though the town remains part of the Duchy of Lancaster, since 2023 it has been administered as part of the Westmorland and Furness Council area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grasmere (village)</span> Village in Cumbria, England

Grasmere is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England, and situated in the centre of the Lake District and named after its adjacent lake. Grasmere lies within the historic county of Westmorland. The Ambleside and Grasmere ward had an estimated population of 4,592 in 2019. William and Dorothy Wordsworth, the 'Lake Poets', lived in Grasmere for 14 years and called it "the loveliest spot that man hath ever found."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furness</span> Peninsula and region of Cumbria, England

Furness is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalton-in-Furness</span> Town in England

Dalton-in-Furness is a town in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, 4 miles (6 km) north east of Barrow-in-Furness. Along with the rest of the Furness peninsula, it was historically part of Lancashire. It is in the parish of Dalton Town with Newton, alongside the nearby hamlet of Newton-in-Furness. In 2011 it had a population of 7,827.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmorland and Lonsdale (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Westmorland and Lonsdale is a constituency in the south of Cumbria, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tim Farron, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats (2015–2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coniston, Cumbria</span> Village and parish in England

Coniston is a village and civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,058, decreasing at the 2011 census to 928. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakes, Cumbria</span> Civil parish in England

Lakes is a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 5,127, decreasing at the 2011 census to 4,420. It covers the town of Ambleside, and the villages and hamlets of Clappersgate, Rydal, Grasmere, Troutbeck, Chapel Stile, Elterwater, Little Langdale and Waterhead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Westmorland Rural District</span>

South Westmorland was a rural district in Westmorland, England from 1894 to 1974. It saw various boundary changes during its existence, particularly in 1935, when it absorbed Kirkby Lonsdale urban district, whilst parts merged with Ambleside and Grasmere Urban Districts to form Lakes Urban District at the same time. The district was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the area becoming part of the South Lakeland district of Cumbria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troutbeck, Lakes</span> Village in Cumbria, England, near Windermere

Troutbeck is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Westmorland and Furness unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is 3 miles (5 km) north of Windermere town, and west of the A592 road, in the valley of Trout Beck. It is a conservation area and includes the National Trust property of Townend. In 1961 the parish had a population of 592.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rydal, Cumbria</span> Village in England

Rydal is a village in Cumbria, England. It is a small cluster of houses, a hotel, and St Mary's Church, on the A591 road midway between Ambleside and Grasmere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire</span> Bus operator

Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire operates both local and regional bus services in Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, England, as well as Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group, which operates bus, coach, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staveley-in-Cartmel</span> Village in Cumbria, England

Staveley-in-Cartmel is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness Unitary Authority, Cumbria, England. It lies east of Newby Bridge, near the south end of Windermere, 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Ulverston. It is sometimes known as Staveley-in-Furness. Both names distinguish it from another Staveley in Cumbria. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 428, decreasing at the 2011 census to 405.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troutbeck Bridge</span> Human settlement in England

Troutbeck Bridge is a village in the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It is situated 1 mile north of Windermere on the A591 road running through the Lake District and was historically in the county of Westmorland. The main secondary school for Windermere and Ambleside, The Lakes School, is located in the village, as is the postal sorting office for the area. Troutbeck Bridge takes its name from where the road crosses the Trout Beck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere and Bowness</span> Civil parish in Cumbria, England

Windermere and Bowness, formerly just Windermere, is a civil parish in the Westmorland and Furness district, in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England. It includes the towns of Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere, the village of Troutbeck Bridge, the hamlet of Storrs and the areas of Ferney Green and Heathwaite. In 2021 the parish had a population of 7,676. The parish borders Cartmel Fell, Claife, Colton, Crook, Hugill, Kentmere, Lakes, Satterthwaite and Staveley-in-Cartmel. There are 82 listed buildings in Windermere and Bowness. Windermere and Bowness Town Council's meetings take place at Langstone House.

References

  1. ↑ Whaley, Diana (2006). A dictionary of Lake District place-names. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society. pp. lx, 423 p.43. ISBN   0904889726.
  2. ↑ "St. Martin's Church, Bowness-on-Windermere". Parochial Church Council of Windermere. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Bowesden - Boxwell Pages 320-323 A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848". British History Online. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Kendal Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Westmorland South Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Windermere and Bowness Town Council Website". Windermere and Bowness Town Council. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Freeview Light on the Windermere (Cumbria, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Real Radio, Real People and Really Local!". Lake District Radio. 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to Bay Trust Radio". Bay Trust Radio Radio. 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Local Newspapers for Cumbria and the Lake District" . Retrieved 5 October 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.