Skiddaw, Cumberland

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Skiddaw like this:

SKIDDAW, a mountain in the centre of Cumberland; on the E side of Bassenthwaite-water. It culminates 3½ miles N of Keswick, at an altitude of 3,022 feet above sea-level; spreads into an oblong mountain-mass 8 miles by 7; includes Saddleback, Linthwaite fell, and the Caldbeck fells, with ...

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altitudes of 2,856 and 2,101 feet; bears, in its central part, the name of Skiddaw-Forest; consists partly of granite, but chiefly of clay slate; commands very extensive and most gorgeous panoramic views; and has been celebrated by many poets, including Drayton, Lamb, Keats, and Wordsworth, the last of whom says,-

What was the great Parnassus' self to thee,
Mount Skiddaw In his natural sovereignty
Our British hill is nobler far; he shrouds
His double front among Atlantic clouds,
And pours forth streams more sweet than Castally.

Skiddaw through time

Skiddaw is now part of CUMBERLAND Unitary Authority. Click here for graphs and data of how CUMBERLAND has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Skiddaw itself, go to Statistics.

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