Friars' Crag

The 7th-century priest and hermit Saint Herbert lived on an island in Derwentwater. Friars' Crag derives its name from its use as an embarkment point by monks making a pilgrimage to the island.[https://www.visitcumbria.com/kes/friars-crag/ "Friars Crag"], VisitCumbria. Retrieved 6 February 2020 Both Friars' Crag and St Herbert's Island are now owned by the National Trust.[https://www.keswick.org/explore/lakes/derwentwater "Derwentwater"], Visit Keswick. Retrieved 6 February 2020 The crag is at the end of a promontory about half a mile south of the modern boat landing-stages at Keswick, and is reached by a footpath along the eastern side of the lake.

Friars' Crag has been valued as a beauty spot since at least the 18th century. The poet Robert Southey said of it, "If I had Aladdin's lamp, or Fortunatus's purse, I would here build myself a house".Hall and Hall, p. 52 J. M. W. Turner painted the view from the crag in either the late 18th or early 19th century.[https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-derwentwater-from-friars-crag-d01103 "Derwentwater from Friar's Crag], Tate Gallery. Retrieved 6 February 2020 The art critic and social reformer John Ruskin wrote of the spot:

{{blockindent|"The first thing that I remember as an event in life was being taken by my nurse to the brow of Friars' Crag, Derwentwater. The intense joy mingled with awe that I had in looking through the hollows in the mossy roots over the crag into the dark lake has associated itself more or less with all twining roots of trees ever since".Quoted in Rawnsley (1901), p. 2|}}

Ruskin, a pioneer of the protection of the unspoiled beauty of the Lake District, said that the view from Friars' Crag "is one of the three or four most beautiful in Europe".Rawnsley (1894), p. 147 In October 1900, nine months after his death, a monument to Ruskin was unveiled at the side of the path to Friars' Crag.Rawnsley (1901), p. 207 The driving force behind the erection of the Ruskin memorial was Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the three founders of the National Trust. He died in 1920, and in his memory the trust raised money to buy Friars' Crag and the surrounding land. A memorial to him was installed in 1922.Rawnsley (1923), p. 256

The children's author Arthur Ransome incorporated Friars' Crag into his Swallows and Amazons (1930), where it is given the name "Darien", the look-out point for the young crew of the Swallow.

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| File: Friars'-Crag-Turner.png

| alt1= landscape painting of a lake view with fells surrounding

| View from Friars' Crag by J. M. W. Turner

| File: Ruskin Memorial, Friar's Crag.jpg

| alt2= monument in the form of an irregular stone bearing a relief sculpture profile and a memorial text

| Memorial to John Ruskin at Friars' Crag

| File: Rawnsley-stone.jpg

| alt3= memorial inscription with no portrait.

| Memorial to Hardwicke Rawnsley

| File: Friars Crag - geograph.org.uk - 480170.jpg

| alt4= view of lakeside

| Friars' Crag from the lake shore looking north

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{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | last=Hall | first=S. C.|author2=Mrs S. C. Hall | chapter= Memories of the Authors of the Age |title= The Art Journal | volume=28|year= 1866| chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv8ge5H_3nQC&pg=PA52&dq=friars+crag#q=friars%20crag |publisher= Virtue| oclc= 10616356 }}
• {{cite book | last=Rawnsley| first=H. D.|title= Literary Associations of English Lakes | year=1894 | location=Glasgow | publisher=MacLehose | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924103708412/page/n9/mode/2up| oclc= 23309467 }}
• {{cite book | last=Rawnsley| first=H. D.| title= Ruskin and the English Lakes | year= 1901| location=Glasgow | publisher=MacLehose |url=https://archive.org/details/ruskinenglishlak00rawnrich/page/n8/mode/2up| oclc= 1122786 }}
• {{cite book | last=Rawnsley | first=Eleanor | title= Canon Rawnsley: An Account of his Life| year= 1923| location=Glasgow | publisher= MacLehose| oclc=8213081}}
• {{cite book | last= Shelbourn | first= Colin | title= Waterside Walks in the Lake District| year= 2004| location= Wilmslow | publisher= Sigma Leisure | isbn= 978-1-85058-805-4}}