Windermere Parish, 1848

WINDERMERE, (St. Martin), a parish, in Kendal ward and union, county of Westmorland, 9 miles (W.N.W.) from Kendal; containing, with the posttown of Bowness, the townships of Applethwaite and Undermilbeck, the chapelry of Troutbeck, and part of Ambleside, 2,498 inhabitants. This parish derives its name from the beautiful lake anciently called Wynandermere, which is nearly eleven miles in length, about one mile in breadth, and forty fathoms deep. The lake is studded with many picturesque islands, the principal of which, Belle Isle, is richly wooded, and adorned with an elegant circular mansion in the Italian style: in the centre of the island formerly stood Holm House, which was besieged for the parliament by Col. Briggs, who, on the siege of Carlisle being raised, was obliged to abandon it. On Lady Holm, a smaller island, was a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Le Fleming family; net income, £253. The church, situated at Bowness, is a simple and venerable edifice, of which the east window of stained glass is said to have been brought from Furness Abbey: there are several curious memorials of the Philipson family, once the owners of Rayrigg, Calgarth, and the Island; and among the monuments of modern date, is an elegant one designed by Flaxman, to the memory of Bishop Watson, the learned author of the Apology for the Bible, &c. At Troutbeck is a separate incumbency.