Editing Coniston Water

{{Short description|Lake in Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox body of water
 | name                   = Coniston Water
 | image                  = Coniston_Water_from_Holme_Fell.jpg
 | caption                = View from [[Holme Fell]], {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} north
 | image_bathymetry       = 
 | caption_bathymetry     = 
 | location               = [[Lake District, Cumbria]]
 | coords                 = {{coord|54|21|N|3|04|W|region:GB_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}
 | type                   = 
 | pushpin_map            = United Kingdom Lake District#United Kingdom South Lakeland
 | pushpin_label_position = 
 | pushpin_map_caption    = Location in the [[Lake District National Park]]##Location in [[South Lakeland]], [[Cumbria]]
 | inflow                 = 
 | outflow                = [[River Crake]]
 | catchment              = 
 | basin_countries        = United Kingdom
 | length                 = {{convert|8.8|km|mi|1|abbr=on}}
 | width                  = {{convert|793|m|mi|2|abbr=on}}
 | area                   = {{convert|4.7|km2|abbr=on}}
 | depth                  = {{convert|24.1|m|ft|1|abbr=on}}
 | max-depth              = {{convert|56.1|m|ft|1|abbr=on}}
 | volume                 = {{convert|1.133e8|m3|abbr=on}}
 | residence_time         = 340 days
 | shore                  = {{convert|20.2|km|abbr=on}}
 | elevation              = {{convert|43.6|m|abbr=on}}
 | islands                = 2; [[Peel Island, Cumbria|Peel Island]], Oak Island.<br />1 partial; (at high water) Fir Island
 | cities                 = 
}}
'''Coniston Water''' is a lake in the [[Lake District]] in [[North West England]]. It is the third largest by volume, after [[Windermere]] and [[Ullswater]], and the fifth-largest by area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lakes In The Lake District Of The United Kingdom |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/lakes-in-the-lake-district-of-the-united-kingdom.html |website=World Atlas |date=25 April 2017 |access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> The lake has a length of {{Convert|8.7|km|mi|frac=16}}, a maximum width of {{Convert|730|m|yd|-1}}, and a maximum depth of {{Convert|56.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. Its outflow is the [[River Crake]], which drains into [[Morecambe Bay]] via the estuary of the [[River Leven, Cumbria|River Leven]]. The lake is in the unitary authority of [[Westmorland and Furness]], and the ceremonial county of [[Cumbria]].

==Geography and administration==
Coniston Water is situated within [[Furness]], part of the [[North Lonsdale]] [[exclave]] of the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Lancashire]]. It has been within the ceremonial county of Cumbria since 1974, and the Westmorland and Furness district since it replaced [[South Lakeland]] in 2023.

The lake is an example of a ribbon lake formed by [[glaciation]]. The lake sits in a deep U-shaped [[glaciated valley]] scoured by a [[glacier]] in the surrounding volcanic and limestone rocks during the last [[ice age]].

To the north-west of the lake rises the [[Old Man of Coniston]], the highest fell in the [[Coniston Fells]] group and the highest point in the historic county of Lancashire.

==Etymology==
" 'The king's estate or village'. The second el.[ement] is OE tūn, and the whole name may, like numerous English Kingstons, be from OE 'cyninges-tūn'. ... Scand[inavian] influence is, meanwhile, shown by the '-o-' of early and modern spellings, and Ekwall<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ekwall|first=Eilert|title=The place-names of Lancashire|location=Manchester|publisher=Chetham Society|year=1922}}</ref> speculated that this could have been the centre of a 'small Scandinavian mountain kingdom' ".<ref name="Whaley">{{Cite book|last=Whaley|first=Diana|title=A dictionary of Lake District place-names|location=Nottingham|publisher=English Place-Name Society|year=2006|pages=lx,423 p.80–81|isbn=0904889726}}</ref>
Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'."<ref>Whaley, 2006, p.422</ref>
(OE=[[Old English]]; ON=[[Old Norse]]).

==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.

==Waterspeed record ==
[[Image:Coniston Watermap.jpg|thumb|right|An [[Ordnance Survey]] map of Coniston Water from 1925]]
In the 20th century Coniston Water was the scene of many attempts to break the world [[water speed record]]. On 19 August 1939 [[Malcolm Campbell|Sir Malcolm Campbell]] set the record at 141.74 miles per hour ({{convert|228.108|km/h|kn|disp=or|abbr=on}}) in ''[[Blue Bird K4]]''. Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son [[Donald Campbell]] set four successive records on the lake in ''[[Bluebird K7]]'', a [[Hydroplane (boat)|hydroplane]]; in 1967 he was killed just after achieving a speed of over 320 miles per hour ({{convert|515|km/h|kn|disp=or|abbr=on}}) in ''Bluebird K7'' in a record-breaking attempt.

== Lady in the Lake ==
In recent times, Coniston Water has become known for a controversial murder case. Mrs Carol Park was dubbed the ''"[[Lady in the Lake trial|Lady in the Lake]]"'' after the [[Raymond Chandler]] [[The Lady in the Lake|novel of the same name]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/4657304.stm | work=BBC News | title=Vigil for Lady in the Lake killer | date=January 28, 2006}}</ref>

== Boating ==
[[Image:Kayakersview.JPG|thumb|left|Kayaker's view of the lake]]
The lake is ideal for [[kayaking]] and [[canoeing]] and there are a number of good sites for launching and recovery. It is paddled as the second leg of the [[Three Lakes Challenge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.3peakchallenge.co.uk/3lakes_coniston.htm|title=Coniston Water|access-date=20 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114222735/http://www.3peakchallenge.co.uk/3lakes_coniston.htm|archive-date=14 November 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The [[steam yacht]] ''[[Gondola (steam yacht)|Gondola]]'' tours the lake in the summer months, along with two smaller motorised launches (Campbell (previously Exonia  and Cygnet).

Boats can be hired from the lakeside near the steam yacht, with various sizes of boat for hire, from small canoes and kayaks to large personal craft. Along with Ullswater and Derwentwater, Coniston Water has a mandatory waterspeed limit of {{convert|10|mph|kn km/h}}. This is suspended temporarily for boats attempting new world waterspeed records during Records Week, usually the first week in November.

== In art and literature ==
{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834/Coniston Water|Coniston Water,<br />a poetical illustration<br />by L. E. L.}}
[[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s escapist poem "Coniston Water" illustrates an engraving of a painting entitled ''Coniston Water from Nebthwaite, Lancashire'' by [[Thomas Allom]].<ref> {{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=19BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PT86|section=poetical illustration|page=54|year=1833|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1834|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=19BbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PT88|section=picture|year=1833|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>

==Gallery==
{{clear}}
<gallery>
File:Coniston Water from Peel Island.jpg|View from Peel Island facing north with [[Helvellyn]] in the distant background.
File:Coniston Water, from Fell End.jpg|Looking south from fells onto Coniston Water.
File:Steam_Gondola_on_Coniston.jpg|Steam yacht ''Gondola'' at Coniston Pier.
File:Old Man of Coniston, from north Coniston Water.jpg|[[Old Man of Coniston]] from Coniston Water north.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Portal|Cumbria}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012024123/http://www.ukattraction.com/cumbria+lake-district/coniston.html Tourist attractions in Coniston]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143235/http://www.lakedistrictletsgo.co.uk/attractions/attractions_pages/gondola.html Gondola information]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150402165740/http://www.lakedistrictwalks.net/coniston/ Lake District Walks – Coniston Water]

{{Principal Lakes in English Lake District}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Water speed records]]
[[Category:Lakes of the Lake District]]
[[Category:Coniston, Cumbria]]
[[Category:Leven catchment|LConiston]]