Rydal, eccl. dist., township, and vil., Grasmere par., Westmorland - dist., pop. 166; township (Rydal and Loughrigg), 4889 ac., pop. 498, is partly in local government dist. of Grasmere; vil., on river Rothay, at E. end of Rydal Water, 1¼ mile NW. of Ambleside; Rydal Water is J mile long and ¹/₃ mile broad; in vicinity of vil. are Rydal Hall and Rydal Mount, the former the seat, of the Le Flemings, the latter the home of Wordsworth from 1817 to 1850; in the park of Rydal Hall, on Rydal Beck (left affluent of the Rothay), are Rydal Falls (High and Low); 2 miles NW. of Rydal vil. is Rydal Fell, 2022 ft. high.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))