6th August 1819, Grange, Bowder Stone, Sty Head

Friday 6th August 1819

Friday August 6th The morning proved excessively rainy we did not however give up our excursion to Borrowdale Fells which had been previously arranged; at 11 o’clock we started and passing by the side of the lake whose mountains we surveyed yesterday we came to the pretty village of Grange here we passed through the tremendous pass of Bowdre Fells the rocks tower on every side in most rugged & huge forms which surpass description till we arrived at the Bowdre Stone which has been precipitated in one solid mass to the place where it now stands the size is inormous which may be imagined from its being 62 feet in length & weighing

1970 tons there is a staircase to ascend to the top we proceeded two miles further in the carriage through these immense mountains where the gentlemen mounted their ponies and left us to proceed on their excursion to Sty Head the day had fortunately cleared up & the clouds which had hovered about the mountains now fast clearing away had a fine effect we returned the opposite side of the lake to Keswick .

OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:

Grange is overlooked by Grange Fell and Castle Crag, which flank either side of the narrow section of Borrowdale in which it sits.

Its origins date back to medieval times, when the monks of Furness Abbey built a monastic grange on the site. The double-arched bridge that links the village to the B5289 across the River Derwent was built in 1675. (see 1815 Print below) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grange_in_Borrowdale

1815: The Grange in Borrowdale. Engraving by J. Scott after J. Farrington. R.A. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/6895

Bowder Fells – No specific information on Bowder Pass or Bowder Fells found on internet

Bowder Stone: it is popularly said that the name equates with Balder, the second son of the god Odin. Balder is best known for being slain through the actions of Loki with an arrow or spear made of mistletoe. One side of the Bowder Stone is said to be a simulacrum of the face of Balder and a small hole is said to have once existed on his head where in Norse mythology the weapon pierced and killed him. A carving representing the sun was supposedly located just above the hole. The oldest photographs show a well defined chin and lips whilst a second face is seen by some.

1822: Bowder Stone by T Fielding, Published by Thomas McLean Haymarket. http://www.rareoldprints.com/z/14489

Although the stone was visited and admired by many, such as William Sawrey Gilpin in 1772, Joseph Pocklington was the first to take practical steps to attract visitors, purchasing the site in 1798, fencing it off, clearing away all the smaller rocks and erecting 'Bowderstone Cottage' to house a guide and building a ladder to allow visitors to easily reach the top and admire the outstanding views. The cottage and ladder are shown in the print below:

1842: Bowder Stone, Borrowdale. Publisher: J. & F. Harwood, Fenchurch St. http://www.rareoldprints.com/p/2426

In addition to all this activity Joseph designed a hermitage or chapel himself as a Christian counterpoint to the 'druidical' standing stone or menhir that he had also erected. During the works a natural hollow was discovered that ran underneath the boulder and Joseph had a small hole drilled through its base, thereby creating a space that made it possible for visitors to crawl into the hollow to have a ‘hand shake for luck’ with the guide or with another visitor on the other side of the Stone. At first Joseph Pocklington took his friends by coach to admire the Bowder Stone however later it was opened up to all and large numbers of travellers were escorted around the site by the guide that he employed. In 1817 (2 years before Lucy’s visit) Joseph died and the Bowder Stone was sold, however it continued to be open to all visitors and the women only tradition was only broken only by John Raven. A gate had been installed at the bottom of the ladder to ensure that visitors paid a small fee to climb to the top. Various records indicate that the guides were assiduous in their duties with comments such as "The old dame makes money out of the stone watching for tourists like a spider." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowder_Stone

2009: Bowder Stone with viewing steps to the top, photograph by Shaun Ferguson. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Shaun Ferguson and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons At… — 2009: Bowder Stone with viewing steps to the top, photograph by Shaun Ferguson. This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. The copyright on this image is owned by Shaun Ferguson and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowder_Stone_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1515039.jpg

Sty Head is a mountain pass at an altitude of 1,600 feet (488 m) and there is a small tarn (Styhead Tarn) near its summit. The pass is at the head of Wasdale, which contains the lake Wastwater and it passes between the mountains of Great Gable and Scafell Pike (the latter is England's highest mountain). The path from Wasdale was an old packhorse trail.

It is said this area is haunted by a ghoulish apparition without a visible head. Many local people have reported sightings of a strange man walking down the road with a bag moving "as if it contained cats". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sty_Head

Can you help us?

Old Regency Prints, Pictures an Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what town and country would have looked like when Lucy travelled through? Any illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.

New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures of the streets, buildings, gardens and views that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?

Please click here if you can help