Coniston Gardens

Coniston Water is one of the most famous watery expanses in the Lake District. Poets Tennyson and Ruskin (each of whom is also commemorated in a Plymouth street name) had houses on the eastern shore.

Only a dozen or so miles from the sea, it is 143 feet above sea level, although at its deepest point it is more than 40 feet below sea level. Coniston Water stretches for five miles and lies in the northern part of Lancashire. The north western end is overlooked by the celebrated, round-backed mountain Old Man of Coniston, which rises to 2,633 feet above sea level.

Coniston Water abounds with trout and perch and its name, and like that of other place names that are prefixed with Conis, implies royal ownership - this is the King's manor or 'ton'. The 'Conis' element comes from the old Scandanavian 'konungr' or 'kunungr' - king.