Finsthwaite is a village west of the foot of Windermere, and includes part of the area known as Newby Bridge...and was once a place of industry...a mill, limestone quarry, and a bloomery. The bloomery in fact was started by the monks of Cartmel Priory in or around 1230 for the smelting and forging of iron ore.
The beautiful little church of St,Mary's dates from 1608. It was restored in 1793 when the south aisle and tower were added. The church contains a cross made from a plank cut from a pontoon bridge over the river Piave in Italy. Buried in the churchyard, so villagers say, is a princess with wonderful fair hair, believed to be the illegitimate daughter of Charles Edward Stuart (The Young Pretender)...better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
The village of Finsthwaite was originally a settlement dating back to Viking times, and lies in the hills above Lakeside. It is reached by a narrow winding lane past the quaint Newby Bridge complete with its five arches of unequal size and sharply pointed buttresses.
Woodcutting was very much part of their industrious life in the old days, the oak, birch, and hazel so freely available here, converted into furniture, and in later years..bobbins.
Finsthwaite Hall with a top on top, is a monument of nanal vistories of Nelson's Day. In late Victorian times it was the home of Genral Thomas Sneyd (pronounced Sneed), of the Queen's Dragoon Guards.
Along the lane leading towards Hawkshead, lies Graythwaite, yet another area originally settled by the Vikings. Red Deer can still be seen here roaming through the woods.
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