Coniston Water
| Coniston Water | |
|---|---|
View from Holme Fell, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north
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| Location | Lake District, Cumbria |
| Coordinates | 54°21′N 3°04′W / 54.350°N 3.067°WCoordinates: 54°21′N 3°04′W / 54.350°N 3.067°W |
| Primary outflows | River Crake |
| Basin countries | United Kingdom |
| Max. length | 8.8 km (5.5 mi) |
| Max. width | 793 m (0.49 mi) |
| Surface area | 4.7 km2 (1.8 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 24.1 m (79.1 ft) |
| Max. depth | 56.1 m (184.1 ft) |
| Water volume | 1.133×108 m3 (4.00×109 cu ft) |
| Residence time | 340 days |
| Shore length1 | 20.2 km (12.6 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 43.6 m (143 ft) |
| Islands | 2; Peel Island, Oak Island. 1 partial; (at high water) Fir Island |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Coniston Water in Cumbria is the third largest lake in the English Lake District. It is five miles long by half a mile wide (8 km by 800 m), has a maximum depth of 184 feet (56 m), and covers an area of 1.89 square miles (4.9 km2). The lake has an elevation of 143 feet (44 m) above sea level. It drains to the sea via the River Crake.
Coniston Water is situated within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire. Today Coniston Water forms part of the administrative county of Cumbria.
Coniston Water 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.
" 'The king's estate or village'. The 2nd 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 speculated that this could have been the centre of a 'small Scandinavian mountain kingdom' ". Plus "OE 'wæter', with the meaning probably influenced by its ON relative 'vatn'." (OE=Old English; ON=Old Norse).
Remains of agricultural settlements from the Bronze Age have been found near the shores of Coniston Water. The Romans mined copper from the fells above the lake. A potash kiln and two iron bloomeries show that industrial activity continued in medieval times. 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.
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Wikipedia