Editing Coniston Water (section)

==History==
Remains of agricultural settlements from the [[Bronze Age]] have been found near the shores of Coniston Water. The [[Roman Empire|Romans]] [[Coniston copper mines|mined copper from the fells above the lake]]. A potash kiln and two iron bloomeries show that industrial activity continued in medieval times.<ref name=mex>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mineexplorer.org.uk/coniston.htm|title=Coniston Copper Mines – Mine Explorer Society|website=www.mineexplorer.org.uk|access-date=2016-12-26}}</ref> In the 13th and 14th centuries, Coniston Water was an important source of fish for the monks of [[Furness Abbey]] who owned the lake and much of the surrounding land. Copper mining continued in the area until the 19th century.

The lake was formerly known as ''"Thurston Water"'', a name derived from the [[Old Norse]] personal name 'Thursteinn' + Old English 'waeter'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sw.rae/tarns.htm |title=Derivation of the Names of Lake District Lakes and Tarns |access-date=2009-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627083445/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sw.rae/tarns.htm |archive-date=2009-06-27 }}
Derivation of the Names of Lake District Lakes and Tarns</ref> This name was used as an alternative to Coniston Water until the late 18th century.<ref>http://www.lakesguides.co.uk/html/west/ws02fram.htm West 1784, 'A Map of the Lakes in [[Cumberland]], [[Westmorland]] and [[Lancashire]]'</ref>

The [[Victorian era|Victorian]] artist and [[philosopher]] [[John Ruskin]] owned [[Brantwood|Brantwood House]] on the eastern shore of the lake, and lived in it from 1872 until his death in 1900. Ruskin is buried in the [[churchyard]] in the village of [[Coniston, Cumbria|Coniston]], at the northern end of the lake. His secretary the antiquarian [[W. G. Collingwood]] wrote a historical novel ''Thorstein of the Mere'' about the Northmen who settled on the island in the lake.

The Victorian and Edwardian artist [[Henry Robinson Hall]] settled in Coniston during the [[World War I|Great War]] and is buried in the parish church graveyard.

[[Arthur Ransome]] set his children's novel ''[[Swallows and Amazons]]'' and the sequels ''[[Swallowdale]]'', ''[[Winter Holiday]]'', ''[[Pigeon Post]]'' and ''[[The Picts and the Martyrs]]'' around a fictional lake derived from a combination of Coniston Water and [[Windermere]]. The fictional lake resembles Windermere, but the surrounding hills and fells resemble those of Coniston Water. Some of Coniston Water's islands and other local landmarks can be identified in the novels. In particular the books' ''Wild Cat Island'' with its secret harbour is based on [[Peel Island, Cumbria|Peel Island]]. The Amazon River is based on the [[River Crake]]. The [[Swallows and Amazons series]] involve school holiday adventures in the 1930s. The [[Swallows and Amazons (2016 film)|movie adaptation (2016)]] of these stories was also partly filmed on Peel Island, Coniston Water. {{citation needed|reason=Plompton Rocks in Yorkshire mentioned in WP|date=February 2022}}

Historically, Coniston was part of [[Furness|Lancashire (North of the Sands)]], until Local Government reorganisation in 1974 when Cumbria was created.