INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The tangible and intangible qualities that are the Lake District caught the attention of key artists, poets, writers and thinkers who are historically and popularly associated with the area. In particular, these include the late 18th/19th century discoverers and artists of the ‘picturesque’ movement, William Wordsworth, the Romantic poet, and John Ruskin, the thinker. Each was fundamentally influenced by the special qualities of the Lake District landscape.

In the context of a Britain undergoing an industrial revolution from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, Wordsworth and Ruskin thought deeply about, amongst other things, the relationship of man and nature. Each in different ways nurtured a tradition of environmental understanding and landscape conservation in the Lake District that, during the 20th and 21st centuries, has continued to be of great influence both nationally and internationally.  Wordsworth and Ruskin contribute the Lake District OUV.