Ruskin’s View

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Ruskin's View, Kirkby Lonsdale

Ruskin’s View

Where is it – England, North West England

Who looks after it –  Local Authority 

What is it –  Countryside, Free access, Legend 

When is it from – Victorian

From the north east corner of St Mary’s churchyard in Kirkby Lonsdale is Church Brow, a promenade high above the River Lune. From there is a panorama over the River Lune, the valley, and surrounding hills that was painted by JMW Turner in 1822, a work which so impressed the art critic and social thinker John Ruskin that he wrote, “I do not know in all my country, still less in France or Italy, a place more naturally divine.” He subsequently described the view as “one of the loveliest views in England, therefore in the world.” Hence, it is known as Ruskin’s View. You can walk to the river down the Radical Steps from here, and on to the Devil’s Bridge. Church Brow area has also been known as Fisherty Brow, of which an old legend records “a curious kind of natural hollow scooped out, where, ages ago, a church, parson, and congregation were swallowed up by the earth. Ever since this terrible affair it is asserted that the church bells have been regularly heard to ring every Sunday morning.”

Access is from St Mary’s Churchyard, off Market Street, Kirkby Lonsdale.

 


Address
Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria LA6 2BB 

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