--- title: "Watendlath | Visit Keswick, Lake District" url: https://visitkeswick.com/explore/valleys/watendlath description: "The hamlet and tarn at the end of the dead-end lane above Borrowdale, owned by the National Trust and best reached on foot from Surprise View." --- ## The hamlet and the tarn One of the scenic places of this area is the tiny hamlet of Watendlath, in the northern Lake District, with a small seven-acre tarn of the same name. The entire hamlet is owned by the National Trust and is managed by tenant farmers. The minor road comes to an end at Watendlath. Beyond it a footpath leads up into the fells and over and down into [Rosthwaite](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/neighbouring-villages/rosthwaite) , which makes the obvious walk here a crossing rather than a there-and-back. A stone packhorse bridge arching over the beck at Watendlath below the fells ## Leave the car at Surprise View The narrow wall-rimmed lane twists its way up from the [Ashness Bridge road](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/not-to-miss/ashness-bridge) , single-track with passing places. There is a National Trust car park at Watendlath, but it is small and the lane is busy in summer. If you are arriving by car it is better to park at Surprise View and enjoy the easy two-and-a-half-mile walk in. There is a footpath along the other side of the river for the return, if you have adequate footwear. A beck running through Watendlath below a wind-bent thorn tree ## The home of Judith Paris Watendlath is the home of Judith Paris in the novels of Hugh Walpole — the Herries Chronicle, written in the 1930s and set through two centuries of one Borrowdale family. Fold Head Farm at the head of the hamlet is the house he had in mind. The tarn is a popular place for fishing, and the walk round it takes about twenty minutes. ## The other valleys A shingle beach curving into the lake below steep bracken-covered fells Buttermere Three lakes in one glaciated valley, with Rannerdale bluebells in May and walks beneath the highest fells. Explore Buttermere A valley of fields and farms seen across the top of a drystone wall with pointed fells beyond Newlands The quiet valley behind Catbells, with Goldscope mine, Beatrix Potter connections and walks from the valley floor to the tops. Explore Newlands A weathered wooden fingerpost pointing to St Johns in the Vale Church and Dale Bottom St John's in the Vale The scenic valley between Keswick and Thirlmere, with its small church, High Rigg and routes towards Helvellyn. Explore St John's in the Vale A wide green valley of hedged fields with a long fell ridge above it Borrowdale A valley running from Derwentwater to Scafell Pike, with villages, climbing crags and the Rambler bus all the way through. Explore Borrowdale Loading map… - Watendlath - [Keswick](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/town) - [Rosthwaite](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/neighbouring-villages/rosthwaite) - [Ashness Bridge](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/not-to-miss/ashness-bridge) - [Surprise View](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/not-to-miss/ashness-bridge) - [Derwentwater](https://visitkeswick.com/explore/lakes/derwentwater) ## For AI agents - API catalogue: https://visitkeswick.com/.well-known/api-catalog - Guide for AI agents: https://visitkeswick.com/llms.txt - A2A agent card: https://visitkeswick.com/.well-known/agent-card.json - MCP server card: https://visitkeswick.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json - Personal Agent Protocol: https://visitkeswick.com/.well-known/poppy.json - Live availability and booking: the site's tools above (MCP connector at https://visitkeswick.com/mcp).