In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Coniston like this:
CONISTON, a small town in Church-Coniston chapelry, Ulverstone parish, Lancashire; on the west side of Coniston water, at the terminus of the Coniston railway, 3 miles SW by W of Hawkshead. It is a picturesque place, amid some of the grandest scenery of the Lake country; has a post office under Windermere, ‡ two inns, a reading room , a public library, a church, and a Baptist chapel; and forms one of the centres of the Lake tourists. ...
Oldfield, who piloted Nelson's fleet into action at the battle of the Baltic, resided here; and De Quincey made his notable unsuccessful pilgrimage hither to visit Wordsworth. Considerable trade is done in exporting copper ore, slates, flags, birch brooms, and small timber. Copper mines exist about ½ a mile up the adjacent mountain; are supposed to have been worked by the ancient Britons and the Romans; have a chief shaft about 640 feet deep; and yield about 250 tons of copper ore per month. See Coniston (Church).
Coniston through time
Coniston is now part of South Lakeland district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Lakeland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Coniston itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Coniston, in South Lakeland and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/10056
Date accessed: 16th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Coniston".
