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Pictures of Grasmere

a Picturesque Village in the county of Cumbria

Grasmere, Cumbria

About Grasmere

This tiny stone village is beautifully set between the tranquil waters of Grasmere Lake and the jagged heights of Helm Crag and Nab Scar. Close-by is a beautiful natural arena where the famous Grasmere Sports are staged each August, this event perpetuates many Lakeland traditions. Local sheepdog trials are held in the village at around the same time.

The village and its valley are seen at their best from the surrounding hills To the left of the village is the Swan Hotel and it is reputed that Sir Walter Scott had breakfast here whilst staying with the celebrated poet Wordsworth. Born in 1770, William Wordsworth died at his home Rydal Mount in the year 1850 a few days after his 80th birthday. His years here were happy and productive, he must have drawn much inspiration from the beauty and tranquility of this spectacular Lakeland area.

William and his devoted sister Dorothy, lived in a delightful stone cottage situated beyond the village church where a lane skirts the fields before reaching Town End and a pretty cluster of stone slate roofed cottages with glorious westward views. They moved together into Dove Cottage, originally an inn called the Dove and Olive Bough for which they paid an annual rent of £8.00. In the year 1782 the poet married Mary Hutchinson, and three of their children were born at Dove Cottage during the following four years.
In 1808, the Wordsworths moved to Allan Bank and the cottage became the home of their friend Thomas de Quincey, author of The Confessions of an English Opium Eater.

The Wordsworth Museum, a short distance from Dove Cottage , contains many of Wordsworth's personal possessions and there is also a reconstruction of a typical farmhouse kitchen.

Allan Bank, where the Wordsworths lived until 1811 is not open to visitors. The poet and his family spent the next two years at the Rectory opposite the Church of St. Oswald before moving to Rydal Mount which is situate on the road between Grasmere and Ambleside where the great man was to spend the rest of his life.

There are many pleasant building in and around Grasmere and just past the Swan Hotel, at a point close to the River Rothay an old creeper covered house stands by the bridge. It is perhaps one of the most attractive houses in the village. Grey-green and purple tinged stone shops, houses and cottages flank Broad Street which has a pleasant little green at it's junction with College Street. Several hotels are clustered in the heart of Grasmere, before the main road reaches the Church on the bank of the Rothay. The small building by the lych gate was the village school from 1660 until 1854.

William Wordsworth knew the village church of St.Oswald well, he described it in his epic poem, The Excursion, thus it is immortalised forever. In the church, near the alter, an inscribed profile in white marble depicts Wordsworth between graceful daffodils and bluebells.

Every year on a Sunday nearest to 5th August, St.Oswalds day, a colourful, rush bearing procession wends it's way through Grasmere to the church. The ancient ceremony, kept alive in Grasmere and a few other villages in the North of England dates from the time when church floor were bare earth and had rushes spread over them for warmth and cleanliness. Grasmere's church was paved with flagstones in the 19th-century but this symbolic ceremony continues today.

As you wander through this delightful village, beauty abounds all around in the form of towering peaks, magnificent lakes and glistening waterfalls, coupled with enchanting buildings and the romance of a famous English poet, you will surely ask ' who could wish for anything more' for this whole area is majesty and peace beyond compare.


Planning a visit? Please see below for other recommended towns, attractions and recommended hotels nearby.

Distances and directions below are approximate. For true driving distances please visit the AA Route Planner

Recommended attractions near Grasmere

Dove Cottage(0.5 miles, 0.8 km)Pictures
Lake District National Park(2.4 miles, 3.8 km, direction NW)Pictures
Langdale Pikes(3.4 miles, 5.5 km, direction W)Pictures
Kirkstone Pass(4.5 miles, 7.2 km, direction E)Pictures
Tarn Hows(4.6 miles, 7.4 km, direction S)Pictures
Wray Castle(4.7 miles, 7.5 km, direction SE)Pictures
Brothers Water(5.4 miles, 8.6 km, direction NE)Pictures
Honister Slate Mine(6.9 miles, 11.1 km, direction NW)Pictures
Windermere Steamboat Museum(7.4 miles, 12.0 km, direction SE)Pictures
The Bowder Stone(7.6 miles, 12.2 km, direction NW)Pictures
Hill Top(7.6 miles, 12.2 km, direction S)Pictures
Grizedale Forest Park Country Park(7.9 miles, 12.7 km, direction S)Pictures
Lake Windermere(8.0 miles, 12.9 km, direction SE)Pictures
Hardknott Roman Fort(8.2 miles, 13.2 km, direction SW)Pictures
Hardknott Pass(8.2 miles, 13.2 km, direction SW)Pictures

All attractions in Grasmere
All attractions in Cumbria
Complete A to Z of attractions in England

Recommended towns near Grasmere

Elterwater in the county of Cumbria (1.8 miles, 2.8 km, direction S)
Elterwater is barely 200ft above sea level, it is picturesquely set beneath the glories of the Langdale Pikes
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Little Langdale in the county of Cumbria (2.7 miles, 4.4 km, direction SW)
Little Langdale is a delightful hamlet in a hauntingly beautiful area lying above the Furness Fells.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Ambleside in the county of Cumbria (3.3 miles, 5.3 km, direction SE)
Ambleside, meaning "Shieling" or summer pasture by the riverbank, lies next to the northern shore of Lake Windermere. A busy victorian town ideal as a base when visiting the Lake District
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Stonethwaite in the county of Cumbria (5.9 miles, 9.5 km, direction NW)
Tucked away in a quiet part of Borrowdale where streams tumble down crags amongst a patchwork of old pack-horse trails, scenery does not come more beautiful than that which surrounds this peaceful hamlet in the Langstrath Valley.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Hawkshead in the county of Cumbria (5.9 miles, 9.5 km, direction S)
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Coniston in the county of Cumbria (6.4 miles, 10.3 km, direction S)
There is a timelessness about this pretty village which is set beneath the awesome splendour of "The Old Man of Coniston" towering some 2,500ft above.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Borrowdale in the county of Cumbria (6.5 miles, 10.4 km, direction NW)
There is little doubt that Borrowdale possess some of the most unforgettable of all in the vast landscape of The Lake District National Park.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Rosthwaite in the county of Cumbria (6.6 miles, 10.6 km, direction NW)
Small as Rosthwaite may be, it has magic and serenity coupled with some of the most unforgettable sights in the Lake District National Park
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Watendlath in the county of Cumbria (6.7 miles, 10.7 km, direction NW)
A place of great beauty, Watendlath's dramatic landscape inspired writer Sir Hugh Walpole to choose it as the setting for his Rogue Herries series.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Patterdale in the county of Cumbria (6.7 miles, 10.8 km, direction NE)
The village of Patterdale is a well known vantage point at the head of Ulleswater, close to Brotherswater.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Seatoller in the county of Cumbria (6.9 miles, 11.0 km, direction NW)
Seatoller, set in one of the most beautiful and exciting landscapes to be found in the lakes, gains its prosperity as a centre for climbers and walkers.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Glenridding in the county of Cumbria (7.0 miles, 11.2 km, direction NE)
Glenridding lies in a beautiful area on the south-west side of Ullswater.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Windermere in the county of Cumbria (7.2 miles, 11.6 km, direction SE)
Lake Windermere is England's largest lake, and one of it's most popular with visitors. It is 10.5 miles long and approx 1 mile...
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Grange in Borrowdale in the county of Cumbria (8.0 miles, 12.9 km, direction NW)
A picturesque village in the Borrowdale valley, one of the most beautiful valleys in England.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

Bowness on Windermere in the county of Cumbria (8.0 miles, 12.9 km, direction SE)
This is the principal resort on Lake Windermere, it is a town crammed with quaint narrow streets jammed full of summer tourists which sprawls along the shores of the lake somewhere between Waterhead and Lakeside.
Info | Pictures | Hotels

All towns in Cumbria
Complete A to Z of towns in England

Nearby travel help

Windermere Station(7.4 miles, 11.9 km, direction SE)
Staveley Station(10.1 miles, 16.3 km, direction SE)
M6 Junction 39(15.6 miles, 25.1 km, direction E)
M6 Junction 40(17.3 miles, 27.8 km, direction NE)
Blackpool Airport(47.2 miles, 75.9 km, direction S)
Teesside International Airport(64.4 miles, 103.7 km, direction E)
Grasmere to London(237.1 miles, 381.4 km, direction SE)

Hotels & Accommodation in Grasmere

Hotel NameApproximate distance from Grasmere center
Red Lion Hotel(0.2 miles, 0.3 km)
Rothay Garden Country House Hotel(0.5 miles, 0.8 km)
The Waterside Hotel Grasmere(0.5 miles, 0.8 km)
Langdale Classic Hotel & Country Club(1.5 miles, 2.5 km, direction SW)
New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel(2.5 miles, 4.0 km, direction W)
Best Western Ambleside Salutation Hotel(3.2 miles, 5.1 km, direction SE)
Churchill Hotel(3.2 miles, 5.2 km, direction SE)
Lakes Lodge(3.3 miles, 5.2 km, direction SE)
Cherry Garth(3.3 miles, 5.3 km, direction SE)
Regent By The Lake(3.6 miles, 5.8 km, direction SE)
All hotels in Grasmere

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