The lost village of Wythburn

Thirlmere reservoir was constructed in 1894 when a dam was constructed near the small natural lake of Leathes Water, near St John's in the Vale, not far from Keswick. The dam allowed the water level to rise 50 feet, creating a four mile reservoir which swallowed up a second natural lake further south, Wythburn water.

The villages of Wythburn and Armboth were also drowned by the new reservoir, constructed to supply the growing town of Manchester with fresh drinking water, and the loss of these villages was strongly opposed at the time. All that remains of Wythburn nowadays is a couple of farms and a quaint little church, which dates from 1642.

Our walk today took us to Wythburn, where we parked right behind the church in a small car park popular with those wanting to climb Helvellyn. Kevan and I did that walk a few years ago, and today's efforts started the same way - up a steep path through the trees. Soon though we reached another path which was much flatter and led away to the southern end of the reservoir.


From here we walked around to the western shore of Thirlmere, before climbing steeply up to the little Harrop Tarn. The climb was quite difficult as there was no path and the route was very overgrown in places, so we were pleased to reach the tarn and find a good spot for lunch.

The way back down, through the trees on much better paths, was just as steep though, but once we reached the road the return leg along the lakeshore was very pleasant. Eventally we made it back to the car and then on to Keswick for a bite to eat. Looking at the map and Carole's pedometer it worked out at around 5.5 miles, but the steep slopes to the tarn made it feel more than that!