In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Langdale like this:
LANGDALE (GREAT), an upland vale in Langdale chapelry, Grasmere parish, Westmoreland. It commences at the Stake mountain, on the boundary with Cumberland; extends 5 miles south-eastward to Elterwater; forms two ravines, called Millgill and Mickleden, for nearly 2½ miles from its head; makes a junction with Little Langdale at Elter-water; and is traversed by the upper reaches of the river Brathay. ...
A mountain-group, called the Langdale Pikes, occupies the space between Millgill and Mickleden; soars into three peaks, rugged, steep, and picturesque, the highest with an altitude of 2,424 feet; figures conspicuously in much of the Lake region; and commands, from all the peaks, especially from the highest, extensive and magnificent views. The reach downward from that mountain group to Elter-water is flanked on the right by Lingmoor, on the left by the Grasmere mountains; its sides are a continual alternation of spurs, large and small, high and low, from these mountain flanks; and its bottom is a series of flat tracts, everywhere variable, ranging from closeness to openness, and from circular sweep to sinuous progress. A darkly romantic waterfall, called the Dungeon Gill Force, is at the skirt of the Pikes. A road thence, by High Close into Grasmere, commands a surpassingly beautiful view. Quarries of blue slate are at Thrang and Elter-Water Crag, near the foot of the vale. See Dungeon-Gill and Elter-Water.
Langdale through time
Langdale is now part of South Lakeland district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Lakeland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Langdale itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Langdale, in South Lakeland and Westmorland | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/4932
Date accessed: 13th May 2024
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