ambleside and troutbeck...

Ambleside, at the head of Windermere and the foot of the Kirkstone Pass, is in the very heart of the Lake District with easy access to Grasmere, Keswick, Windermere and the Langdales. Although Ambleside has its roots in the medieval woollen trade it is predominantly a Victorian town.

 During the building boom of the 19th century many hotels and houses were built of dark grey slate in reposnse to a surge in tourism. People started to travel from far and wide to admire the scenery that had been captured on canvas and paper by earlier writers, poets and artists.

Did you know .......

The Struggle

Aptly describes the steep ascent out of Ambleside to the Kirkstone Inn, one of the highest hostelries in the UK.

 

Roadside wells

Troutbeck has several fine roadside wells, each dedicated to a different saint.

The old 'corpse road'

For many years St Anne's Chapel was Ambleside's only place of worship, but not registered to record marriages and deaths. As the chapel was in the parish of Grasmere, the deceased were carried nearly 4 miles along the old ‘corpse road' to St Oswald's Church in Grasmere for burial. Once St Mary's Church was built and consecrated in 1854 this arduous trek was no longer necessary.

Ambleside accommodation