Claife Heights

Claife Heights, which is owned by the National Trust, is an area of woodland on the western shores of Lake Windermere. This area is ideal for walking, cycling and wildlife. From the top of Claife Heights the view, on a clear day, of Windermere, Bowness on Windermere and Lake Windermere itself is absolutely breathtaking.

Info Panel

Mountain: Claife Heights

Elevation: 270m (886 ft)

Location: Cumbria, England

OS grid ref: SD374975

Nearest village(s): Windermere, Bowness, Hawkshead, Far Sawrey, Near Sawrey

Coordinates: 54° 22′ 8.93″ N, 2° 57′ 54.14″ W

By Stephen Dawson, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Claife Station, which was built in the 1790’s, was a viewpoint from which visitors could look at Lake Windermere. During the 1830’s and 1840’s it was very trendy with the tourists, not only for the landscape appreciation, but also for the dances and parties that were held here.

The most celebrated feature of the Station was it’s coloured glass windows in the drawing room. These windows, which each had different aspects, were meant to enhance the variations in weather and seasons as well as to recreate the lighting effects in the landscape. Yellow depicted summer, orange represented autumn, light green portrayed spring and light blue for winter. Added to these colours was a dark blue which represented moonlight and a lilac tint which portrayed the impression of a thunderstorm.

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Windermere Bowness on Windermere Ambleside Coniston Hawkshead Keswick

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