THE LAKE DISTRICT IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS BEAUTIFUL NATURE AND CREATIVE PEOPLE, yet in the 1840s, visitors may have been drawn to the area for a more uncommon sight.
Ecclerigg Crag is a series of big boulders neatly etched with an odd assortment of names on the lakeside. Poets like Wordsworth and Burns, arctic explorers like Ross and Parry, and scientists like Isaac Newton and James Watt are all mentioned. There are also political and military names, as well as connections to the Battle of Waterloo and the Magna Carta. One inscription is specifically dedicated to a criticism against the national debt, referring to money as “THE SINEW OF WAR.”
According to 19th-century guides and guidebooks, the rocks were chiselled in the 1830s by a stonemason named John Longmire from nearby Troutbeck. They were cut in place and may still be seen today in the now-defunct lakeside quarry.
Half the enjoyment is uncovering the names by cleaning the stones, which are often covered with moss or partially covered with leaves. Four of the enormous engraved rocks are very simple to detect, but there appear to be a few more nearby, including several in the lake itself.
Learn Before You Go
There are pretty visible trails down from the Cragwood Country House Hotel‘s parking lot. Longmire’s Rocks are on the hotel grounds, so check with staff before venturing down from the parking lot to the shoreline. The rocks may be found at the bottom of the wooden steps.
Jon is a regular contributor to several outdoor living and lifestyle news publications, concentrating on The Lake District. Now living in Glenridding, Jon studied journalism at Edinburgh University.
