Coniston, Cumbria
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Coniston is a village in the region of Furness, England. It is located in the southern part of the Lake District National Park, between Coniston Water and Coniston Old Man.
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[edit] Geography and administration
Having been within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire since 1182, Coniston was part of the administrative county of Lancashire between 1889 and 1974. Today Coniston forms part of Cumbria. The village is situated at the head of Coniston Water, the third longest lake in the Lake District.
[edit] History
Coniston grew as both a farming village, and to serve local copper and slate mines. It grew in popularity as a tourist location during the Victorian era, thanks partially to the construction of a branch of the Furness Railway, which opened to passenger traffic in 1859 and terminated at Coniston railway station. The poet and social revolutionary John Ruskin also popularised the village, buying the mansion Brantwood on the shores of Coniston Water in 1871. Before his death, he rejected the chance to be buried in Westminster Abbey, instead being laid to rest in the churchyard of St Andrews, Coniston.
It is also the location of the fictional Lawson Park vivisection research facility in the animated film The Plague Dogs from which the two dogs escape.
[edit] Present day
Coniston is a popular spot for hill-walking and rock-climbing; there are fine walks to be had on the nearby Furness Fells and Grizedale Forest, and some of the finest rock in the Lake District on the eastern face of Dow Crag, three miles from the village.
The creation of the national park in the 1950's provided a further boost to tourism, with attractions such as the John Ruskin Museum and ferry services across the lake developing. Donald Campbell added to the profile of the village and lake when he died breaking the world water speed record in 1967, having already set the record on the same lake in 1967. His body and boat (The Bluebird) were discovered by divers in 2000 and he was buried in the new graveyard on the outskirts of Coniston in 2001.
The village is also home to a number of hotels and two Youth Hostels, one at the edge of the village, the other in the nearby Coppermines Valley.
Two slate quarries still operate at Coniston, one in the coppermines valley, the other at Brossen Stone on the east side of the Coniston Old Man. Both work Coniston's volcanic slates, being blue at Low-Brandy Crag in the Coppermines Valley, and light green at Brossen Stone (bursting Stone).
Coniston is also an important local centre, with a secondary school, bank, petrol station and other such services. It has also repeatedly been highly placed in the Village of the Year award, winning it in 1997.
The scenery around Coniston derives from Coniston Limestone and Borrowdale Volcanic rocks.
Source: Coniston at All Experts
[edit] See also
