Elterwater and Chapel Stile are two villages of Great Langdale with half a mile between them.
Chapel Stile over the years appears to have grown around a pleasant but simple stone chapel.
Until 1821 villagers would have been carried over the fell to Grasmere for burial, for it wasn't until 1857 that the present church was built.
The village of Chapel Stile is little more than an informal jumble of houses ranged along two
sloping lanes which eventually lead down to the B5343 road. The oldest hereabouts are found
close to the church.
Elterwater is situated near the lake of the same name...half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. Elterwater was named originally by the Norsemen 'Swan Lake' and swans still frequent the tarn, including the Whooper Swans from Scandinavia, often seen in winter. Here too will be seen many 17th century houses, one of which basks in the glory of 'being the home of the linen industry,' set up initially by one of Cumbria's best known residents, John Ruskin.
On either side of the maple tree is the Britannia Inn, a busy pub for locals and tourists, together with the village shop and bowling green.
The gunpowder works eventually became a beautifully designed and equipped Time-Share complex.
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