Windermere Conservation Area

Why is Windermere special?

Windermere is a town on the shoulder of Orrest Head in a rural Lakeland setting, a short distance from Windermere lake in view of distant high fells. Special qualities include:

• A rare example of a town created on a ’greenfield’ site following the opening of a railway terminus in 1847;
• Compact historic core that: grew within a 50-year period in the second half of the 19th century, was constructed almost exclusively by three local builders (Pattinson, Medcalfe and Harrison) and was built almost entirely with local stone;
• Semi-rural eastern gateway flanked by two pre-railway buildings, both listed grade II;
• Good examples of typical provincial Victorian and Edwardian commercial and residential architecture in the town centre;
• Architectural and historic interest of the area’s buildings, including ten grade II listed buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, and numerous significant unlisted buildings;
• Elleray (1869), a former residence built for a Manchester industrialist, together with its stables and wooded parkland (now a school);
• A wealth of external period details such as decorative bargeboards, bay windows, dormers, oriels, finials, ridge tiles;
• Trees and groups of trees that enhance the setting of historic buildings and soften the streetscene, notably in the northern part of the conservation area;
• Prevalent use of a variety of local stone, reflecting the underlying geology of the area, used for walling, roof slates and boundary walls;
• Attractive views to distant fells and Windermere lake;
• Historic associations with the Rev. J. A. Addison and a cluster of Gothic-style buildings built with his influence;
• Spacious late-19th century suburban developments off Lake Road, close to Mill Beck.