If you want your Lakes trip to focus on the remote and majestic, Wasdale is the valley for you. With Scafell Pike, England’s highest peak at over 3,200 feet, and Great Gable along with Kirk Fell and others forming a dramatic horse-shoe background to the head of the valley, this is climbing country, one of the spiritual homes of British mountaineering – Napes Needle on Great Gable is one of the best-known British rock-climbing challenges. Wasdale runs from the little village of Wasdale Head, down to Nether Wasdale and then broadening out to house the settlements of Santon Bridge and Gosforth, before the River Irt that follows the valley heads to the sea at Ravenglass. As well as England’s highest mountain Wasdale contains its deepest lake, Wast Water at 258 feet, one of the waters where the depth-loving Arctic Char survives and thrives. Wasdale Head claims two other superlatives: the smallest church in the country in St Olaf’s (though others dispute the title), and the greatest liar, 19th century publican Will Ritson, who told some whoppers and in whose memory the village holds a yearly “greatest liar” competition. St Olaf’s dates from Tudor times, but its beams are claimed to come from Viking longships. Further down the valley is Nether Wasdale, a pretty village of white stone cottages where in front of the church of St Michael there is a rather different sort of preserved structure, a Maypole erected to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. Gosforth, a couple of miles further along the Irt, is another settlement with Viking links, its churchyard containing the tallest Viking cross in the country, a magnificent monument 14 feet tall, carved beautifully and still intact more than a thousand years after it was erected. Even the name Wasdale has Viking roots, being a corruption of the Old Norse for valley of the water. Nearby there are plenty of other attractions: Ratty, the narrow-gauge railway starting from Ravenglass; Muncaster Castle; and on the coast Sellafield visitor centre. But the abiding memories of Wasdale will be of natural beauty rather than the man-made.
Church
Cottage
Hodgson House
Lingard
Ormondroyd
Inn
Self-Catering
Places to Stay near Wasdale
Low Wood Hall Hotel (0.06 miles)
Low Wood Hall Hotel is a delightful getaway for couples, families, business travellers and adventurers alike, ideally situated in the unspoilt spectacular scenery of the Wasdale Valley. All of ... More
Bridge Inn (1.79 miles)
Bower House Inn (2.35 miles)
In a remote Lake District Valley Bower House Inn (Built in 1725)offers Tradition, Hospitality and an award winning Restaurant. Friendly staff and a range of cask ales and fine wines. A place to relax and ... More | visit website
Hodgson House (2.62 miles)
Click here to book this cottage with Hoseasons
At the foot of the Lake District's Western Fells, Hodgson House (left of left photograph) is one of a select number of properties enjoying a stunning setting ... More
Gatehouse (2.67 miles)
We are able to offer B&B accommodation in single, twin and triple en-suite rooms from £38.00 per person per night - ... More
Bridge Inn (2.82 miles)
AWARD WINNING BEAUTIFUL FAMILY RUN COUNTRY INN SITUATED IN THE WASDALE VALLEY CLOSE TO WASTWATER, SCAFELL, GREAT GABLE ETC. MUNCASTER CASTLE AND THE RATTY RAILWAY AT RAVENGLASS. REAL JENNINGS ALES, ... More
Stanley House (3.58 miles)
This converted former hostel, has been sympathetically converted into 12 ensuite bedrooms, with stunning views either of the fells to the North or the gardens, rivers and fells to the South. All rooms are very ... More | visit website
Lutwidge Arms Hotel (3.93 miles)
Westlakes Hotel (3.94 miles)
Westlakes Hotel is a late Georgian Country House, which is set in 3 acres of tranquil mature gardens situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Located in the Western ... More
Carleton Green (4.46 miles)
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