Interesting facts and the Lake District in numbers

This page is a text translation of the infographic on What is the Lake District and what does it provide you page of the Partnership Plan.

Interesting facts about the Lake District

  1. It contains two world heritage sites, 'The English Lake District' and 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire'.
  2. England's largest National Park, covering 2,362 km2.
  3. Home to England's highest mountain Scafell Pike
  4. Home to England's deepest lake, Wastwater, 74m.
  5. Home to the largest lake in England, Windermere, 14.8 km2.
  6. Was a source of artistic inspiration for Ruskin, Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.
  7. Contains the largest concentration of common land in the UK, 666 km2.
  8. 16 main 'lakes' but only one offical lake, Bassenthwaite Lake, the others are 'meres' or 'waters'.
  9. Home to Herdwick sheep, a native breed.
  10. 341.4 mm of rain in 24hours at Honister Pass during Storm Desmond in 2015 - (English record).
  11. 767.8 km - the greatest concentration of inland waters.
  12. Inspired and led to the creation of the conservation movement and the National Trust
  13. The Lake District National Park provides 40% of the drinking water for the North West of England every day of the year.

The Lake District in numbers

History and heritage

  • Contains 16,702 archaeological sites
  • The first railway arrived in 1847 when the Kendal line reached Windermere
  • 268 schedulled monuments
  • 23 conservation areas
  • 1,796 listed buildings, including 31 Grade I and 121 Grade II listed

Land, water and habitat

  • 26 miles of coastline
  • 152,777 hectares of farmline
  • 130,740 hectares of land in agri-environment schemes in 2020
  • Provides 750 million litres of drinking water a day to the North West of England
  • 29,792 hecatres of woodland
  • 39,932 hectares of designated European Sites
  • 42,910 hectares of designated SSSI

People and places

  • 40,478 people live in the Lake District
  • 24,511 dwellings
  • 80 parishes
  • Population density of 17.1  people per square kilometre
  • 13 designated rural service centres
  • 21 designated villages

Tourism and recreation

  • The Lake District welcomed 19.89 million visitors in 2019, but contributing 29.22 million visitor days
  • Visitors spent £1,051 million
  • 126,649 hectares of open access land (53.6% of the Lake District)
  • 2,223 kilometres of public footpaths
  • 925 kilometres of public bridleways
  • 4,647 accomodation outlets in 2013 (825 serviced)