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Bassenthwaite Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bassenthwaite Lake is located in the Lake District in England. It is the only lake in the Lake District with 'lake' in its name, all the others being "waters" (for example, Derwent Water, Ullswater), meres (for example, Thirlmere, Buttermere) or tarns (for example, Dock Tarn, Red Tarn). It is fed by, and drains into, the River Derwent. The lake lies at the foot of Skiddaw and Dodd Wood, near the town of Keswick.
Some maps dating from the 18th century do in fact mark this lake with the name Bassenwater.
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Like the other Lake District lakes, Bassenthwaite Lake lies in a glacially eroded valley, left after the last glaciation. Bassenthwaite Lake is linked to Derwent Water by the River Derwent, which crosses the three mile alluvial plain between the two lakes. There has been speculation that Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake were once one larger lake with the alluvial flats now separating them formed from partial infill of the original basin.
The lake is about 6 kilometres long by 600 to 1000 metres wide. It covers an area of approximately 2 square miles, though its drainage area, at 91.5 sq miles is 44 times greater than any other lake in the Lake District. This, along with a large percentage of cultivable land within this drainage area, allows Bassenthwaite Lake to be a fertile habitat.
The lake contains Salmon, trout, pike, European perch, vendace, Minnows, Dace, Ruffe and eel. the predominant species is the Roach which are believed to have been introduced in the form of discarded live-baits by visiting Pike anglers. Cormorants have been known to fish the lake and herons can also be seen. At the turn of the 19th century there was a report of 60 nests in a heronry in nearby Wythop Woods. In addition to this, the lake is also surrounded by highly fertile alluvial plains.
It has been reported that the wide gravel spreads between Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake provided the best centre within Lakeland for Neolithic farming communities. Stone axes have been found in the area and particularly at Mossgarth, Portinscale.
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. This article has been tagged since January 2007. |
Bassenthwaite Lake • Buttermere • Coniston Water • Crummock Water • Derwent Water • Ennerdale Water • Esthwaite Water • Grasmere • Haweswater Reservoir • Loweswater • Rydal Water • Tarn Hows • Thirlmere • Ullswater • Wast Water • Windermere