ECN site code: L04
ECN monitoring by: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Windermere lies in the north-west corner of England in the English Lake District, an area of great natural beauty which has been a tourist destination since the Romantic Revival of the 18c.
The dominant geological structure of the Lake District is a dome of Paleozoic rocks formed by uplift in the Tertiary. This uplift produced a radial drainage pattern which was enhanced during the Pleistocene glaciation, with the major lakes occupying bedrock basins in steep-sided, flat-floored valleys. Windermere is the largest natural lake in England having a surface area of 14.8km2 at an altitude of only 40 m. The lake itself is divided by a shallow sill into two basins; the North Basin with a surface area of 8km2 and maximum depth of 64m and the South Basin with a surface area of 6.7km2 and maximum depth of 42m.