This illustrated history provides a nostalgic look at the Lake District’s past and highlights the special character of some of its most important historic sites.

The photographs are taken from the Historic England Archive, a unique collection of over 12 million photographs, drawings, plans and documents covering England’s archaeology, architecture, social and local history. Pictures date from the earliest days of photography to the present and cover subjects from Bronze Age burials and medieval churches to cinemas and seaside resorts.

The Lake District is by far the UK’s most popular national park. Every year some 15 million people come here to explore the region’s fells and countryside. Ever since the Romantic poets arrived in the nineteenth century, its panorama of craggy hilltops, mountain tarns and glittering lakes have been stirring the imaginations of visitors. Among the many writers who found inspiration here are William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Arthur Ransome and, of course, Beatrix Potter, a lifelong lover of the Lakes. This book will help you discover the beauty that inspired them.

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