This course explores the cultural and environmental history of the English Lake District, and investigates how perceptions of the region have influenced modern ideas and attitudes about the natural world. We’ll begin by reading accounts by 17th century travellers to the Lake District (many of whom found the region terrifying) before considering the causes of a dramatic change in popular opinions about the Lakeland in the 18th and 19th centuries. We’ll conclude by examining the dedication of the Lake District as a national park in the 20th century and by discussing debates that are currently shaping the region’s future. Along the way we’ll have the chance to delve into a range of important topics, such as the Lake District’s place in the history of environmental activism; the region’s connection with key cultural movements; the rise of mass tourism and commercial leisure culture; the development of landscape aesthetics. We shall also have a chance to evaluate the effect of the industrial revolution on the Lakes, and we shall explore the region’s industrial heritage. 

Dr Christopher Donaldson 

Residential: £360 Non-residential: £255 (incl. fieldtrip)