Mountain Republic: A Lake District Parish - Eighteen Men, The Lake Poets and the National Trust

by Philippa Harrison

The Old Parish of Great Crosthwaite lies at the heart of England's Lake District. From the moment of its in the sixth century AD, Crosthwaite parish has pursued a remarkable course. Its sixty square miles were governed, from medieval times, by eighteen annually chosen customary tenants, who would run all non-ecclesiastical aspects of parish life. After the opening up of Lakeland in the late 18th century, Crosthwaite was a central part of the landscape that intoxicated the Lake Poets, but in the 19th century, the legislative fervour of the Victorian state would bring about the demise of the old parish system, sweeping away the benign rule of the eighteen men. But a measure of redemption was at Canon Rawnsley, campaigning vicar of Crosthwaite from 1883, pledged to defend the Lake District and its natural environment for future generations. Thus did Crosthwaite become the crucible of the National Trust and blazed a trail for a wider movement to preserve the English landscape. A Mountain Republic is both a pointilliste and sedulously constructed record of an individual Lakeland parish and a wider history of a region of England with a unique social, cultural and aesthetic resonance.

752 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[Robert Fletcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars is a bit harsh for this considerable work so I’m writing this a an explanation. I give my reviews purely on how much I enjoyed the book. I did enjoy some parts of this book but the author’s style and the inclusion of quotes to make her point was too verbose for me. Also, the main thrust of the book around the history of land ownership, the nature of tenancies and local governance of the 18 men was lost, often because of the arcane language used and the lack of reflection in layman’s terms.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweeping in scope regarding the length of time covered in the fascinating review of the history of Keswick and yet intimately detailed in terms of the minutiae of life in a remote and thus quasi independent corner of the North. Nevertheless national events had a key and often unexpected impact on the Parish until it was raised from obscurity at the beginning of the C 19th but the arrival of the Lake poets and the invention of tourism.