Brothers Water

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Short description|Lake in the English Lake District, Cumbria, England}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Brothers Water | image = Brothers Water - geograph.org.uk - 342185.jpg | caption = | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = [[Lake District]], [[Cumbria]] | coords = {{Coord|54|30|20|N|2|55|30|W|region:GB_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}} | type = | inflow = | outflow = | pushpin_map = United Kingdom Lake District#United Kingdom Eden | pushpin_map_caption = Location in the [[Lake District National Park]]##Location in [[Eden District|Eden]], [[Cumbria]] | catchment = | basin_countries = United Kingdom | length = | width = | area = | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = | islands = | cities = }} '''Brothers Water''' is a small lake in the [[Hartsop]] valley, in the eastern region of the [[Lake District]] in England.<ref name=OS90>{{cite map|title=Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 90 ''Penrith & Keswick (Ambleside)''|ISBN= 9780319232064 |publisher=Ordnance Survey|date=2011}}</ref><ref name=OSGaz50>{{cite web|url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html|title=Ordnance Survey: 1:50,000 Scale Gazetteer|format=csv (download)|date= 1 January 2016|publisher=Ordnance Survey|website=www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk|accessdate=30 January 2016}}</ref> Once called Broad Water, it lies at the northern end of [[Kirkstone Pass]], affording views on the descent towards [[Patterdale]]. The name was changed in the 19th century after two brothers drowned there.

[[File:BrothersWater20090103.jpg|Brothers Water seen from the north|thumb]] [[Dorothy Wordsworth]], having left [[William Wordsworth]] sitting on Cow Bridge, walked beside the lake on 16 April 1802, commented on:

{{blockquote|...the boughs of the bare old trees, the simplicity of the mountains, and the exquisite beauty of the path...the gentle flowing of the stream, the glittering, lively lake, green fields without a living creature to be seen on them.}}

The lake is not among the most popular in the [[Lake District National Park|national park]], being shallow and full of reeds. Water lilies bloom in July, providing colour.

To the north-east of Brothers Water is the village of [[Hartsop]], which has several 17th-century stone farm buildings and cottages. Some of the buildings still contain spinning-rooms where villagers would have made their own clothing, selling any surplus in the local market towns. The word [[Hartsop]] means "valley of the deer", which would have lived in the woodlands of the lower areas of the surrounding fells. A walk through woodland skirts the western shore. From its northern end the walk leads to Patterdale. Southward it heads over Kirkstone Pass to [[Ambleside]].

On the western side of Brothers Water is [[Hartsop|Hartsop Hall]]. The 16th-century building passed to [[John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale|Sir John Lowther]] in the 17th century and is now owned by the National Trust.<ref>{{Cite web|title=MNA117600 {{!}} National Trust Heritage Records|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA117600|access-date=2021-09-02|website=heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk|language=en}}</ref> The village of [[Hartsop]] lies near the northeast corner of the lake. Brothers Water may be classified in either of two ways: as one of the Lake District's smallest lakes or one of its largest tarns.

The lake is home to a [[trout]] population and harbours a rare species of fish, the [[schelly]].

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Lakes of the Lake District]] [[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria]] [[Category:Westmorland]] [[Category:Patterdale]]