At the valley narrows
Grange-in-Borrowdale
A Borrowdale village where the River Derwent, a double-arched bridge, a Victorian church and steep fells meet.
- Best for
- Fell walks, river views and valley drama
- Give it
- A half-day on foot
- Don't miss
- The double-arched bridge over the Derwent
Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0 · cropped
The Fox verdict
The village at the mouth of the Jaws
Come for the photographed bridge; stay for short, steep fell walking and a route onto Derwentwater's south shore.
Grange-in-Borrowdale sits beside the River Derwent, with Grange Fell rising above and the double-arched bridge as its historic landmark. The fell rises to 415 metres at Brund Fell. Holy Trinity Church dates from 1861; the village's Methodist history includes a chapel built nearby in 1878.
Where to go
Places in Grange-in-Borrowdale
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesBorrowdale Gates Hotel
The village's main source of food and drink, with hotel dining and a bar holding a non-resident alcohol licence.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 90 minutes
- Locality
- in Grange-in-Borrowdale
- Access
- This is a hotel rather than a pub; non-residents should check food and drink access before travel.
Holy Trinity Church, Grange-in-Borrowdale
A small Victorian church in Grange-in-Borrowdale dating from 1861.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 30 minutes
- Locality
- in Grange village
Grange Fell
The fell above Grange rises to 415 metres at Brund Fell and is especially noted for its autumn colours.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 3 hours
- Locality
- above Grange-in-Borrowdale
Walks & outdoors
1 placeCastle Crag
A short but steep 290-metre fell with panoramic views up and down Borrowdale, and the lowest of Wainwright's Lakeland Fells.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around two hours
- Locality
- in Borrowdale
History & heritage
1 placeGrange Bridge
The distinctive double-arched stone packhorse bridge dates from 1675 and is one of Borrowdale's most photographed landmarks.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Planning allowance: around 20 minutes
- Locality
- over the River Derwent
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Three ways to explore Grange-in-Borrowdale
Signature outings
Two arches over the Derwent
Walk across the distinctive stone bridge and look back at its two arches over the River Derwent.
Holy Trinity in Grange
Pause by the small Victorian church, which dates from 1861.
Castle Crag views
Take the short, steep climb to the 290-metre fell for panoramic views up and down Borrowdale.
The village story
Between the Arches and the Fells
A river crossing opens into fell walks, monastic roots and the route through the Borrowdale valley.
The Bridge at the Jaws
The double-arched packhorse bridge at Grange has been standing since 1675, and it is one of the most photographed spots in Borrowdale. It carries a lane over the River Derwent in two stone spans, and on most days of the year someone is pointing a camera at it.
The village sits at the entrance to the Jaws of Borrowdale, the point where the valley pinches tight between Castle Crag on one side and Grange Fell on the other. It is a dramatic bit of geography, and Grange is planted right in the middle of it, four miles south of Keswick at the bottom end of Derwentwater.
A Dry Village and Its Church
For most of its history, you could not get a drink here. Grange was a Methodist dry village — the Nonconformist tradition in Borrowdale ran strong, and a Methodist chapel went up nearby in 1878. The teetotal habit held for a very long time. Only recently did the Borrowdale Gates Hotel receive a non-resident alcohol licence, which makes its bar the main source of food and drink in the village. If you want a proper pub, the nearest are in Rosthwaite, half a mile south, or back in Keswick.
Holy Trinity Church dates from 1861, a small Victorian building for a small village.
Fells Above, Shorepath Below
The walking is the reason most people come. Castle Crag is the obvious one: 290 metres, short and steep, and the lowest of Wainwright's Lakeland Fells — which has not stopped it from being counted among the finest viewpoints of the lot. From the top you get Borrowdale laid out in both directions.
Grange Fell rises above the village to 415 metres at Brund Fell, and it is worth timing for autumn, when the colours come out. Lower down, the south shore of Derwentwater is reached from the village, and the shorepath will take you all the way back to Keswick if you have the legs for it.
How the Grange Gave Its Name
The village owes its name to a farm. In 1209, Alice de Rumelli sold the Borrowdale estates to the monks of Furness Abbey, who cleared the land and set up an outlying grange — a monastic farm — and the hamlet that grew around it took the name. The monks grew oats, barley and rye, made charcoal, and concentrated mostly on wool. The word "grange" simply stuck.
Borrowdale itself means the valley of the fort, and it is widely reckoned the most beautiful valley in the Lake District, which is a competitive field.
The Road In and the River Through
There is no railway. The Borrowdale Rambler, buses 78 and 79, runs seasonally between Keswick and Seatoller and stops at Grange, but it is not a year-round service. Otherwise it is the B5289 from Keswick, south into the valley and over the bridge.
On a clear morning the Derwent runs shallow and loud under the two arches, and the fells close in on either side, and the whole place feels smaller and quieter than the number of cameras pointed at the bridge would suggest.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Photography credits & licences
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- File:Holy Trinity Church, Grange-in-Borrowdale - geograph.org.uk - 6713306.jpg — photograph by David Purchase; Holy Trinity Church, Grange-in-Borrowdale by David Purchase. Source record on Wikimedia Commons. Declared source image. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. File changes: Downloaded from Wikimedia Commons, resized to a maximum 1920px edge and encoded as an optimised JPEG. Display changes: Displayed with responsive CSS cropping.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Grange Bridge — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Borrowdale Gates Hotel — borrowdale-gates.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Castle Crag — nationaltrust.org.uk national body or asset manager
- Holy Trinity Church, Grange-in-Borrowdale — achurchnearyou.com national body or asset manager
- Grange Fell — ramblers.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access