The original farm dates from the 16th Century and much of the present sites infrastructure is housed in the ancient buildings. 400 years ago all the visitors were Herdwick sheep, nowadays the sheep are outnumbered by human tourists.! In the same way as sheep become hefted to a piece of fell, we have found that the same people have been returning to our little piece of the Lake District for many decades.
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The Quiet Site opened its doors to campers and caravanners way back in 1963. Occupying a magnificent position overlooking Ullswater it very soon became a firm favourite and today we are welcoming back 3rd generation campers from the same families. The year we opened had one of the coldest winters on record. All the Lakeland lakes froze and ice skating was the order of the day.
Ullswater has always remained one of the quietest lakes, despite it being one of the most beautiful. The Ullswater Steamers have been running for more than 150 years (with some of the same boats..!) and show off much of the valleys natural beauty.
The Holder family bought The Quiet Site over in 1985 after a successful background in electrical engineering. Many changes and improvements have happened during our time here and we have many more plans. Sympathetic quality development has been the hallmark of our tenure so far. We have concentrated on a fully sustainable approach to business for the last 15 years. After nearly 30 years we consider ourselves ‘nearly’ Ullswater locals.
The future is exciting and will focus on sustainability, quality and a circular economy.
The bar is often referred to one of the finest in Britain and who are we to disagree..! It is certainly the oldest campsite bar in Britain. The structure is a Grade 2 Lisited building. It is noted for the Crook beams clearly visible in the roof. The bar area is open all day and starts to serve drinks in the evening. The bar building dates from the 1500’s. There are two date stones in the bar: one 1752 and one 1680..! The bar is open every night of the year and often boasts live music. All beer is supplied by the local Tirril Brewery.
500 million years ago, the oldest rocks in the Lake District sat at the bottom of an ancient sea. Oxygen-poor mud and debris settled on the sea floor and hardened into rock that has persisted over hundreds of millions of years. It is now named the Skiddaw Group, and its rocks are exposed in the northern third of the Lake District.
About 450 million years ago, the collision of tectonic plates initiated a period of intense volcanic activity. The resulting rocks make up what is now known as the Borrowdale Volcanic Group, which forms the base of the mountainous middle of the Lakes. The rocks are conspicuous brown peaks rising above the vegetated surroundings.
The southern third of the Lake District consists of slates, siltstones and sandstones. Called the Windemere Group, these rocks formed at the bottom of the ocean about 420 million years ago.
About 400 million years ago, a mountain-building event known as the Caledonian Orogeny thrust all the rocks out of the sea, and magma reshaped the rock layers into complex configurations.
The mountain range may have rivaled the height of today’s Himalayas , but millions of years of erosion wore the rocks down to low-profile hills and by 350 million years ago, the land was once again at the bottom of an ancient ocean. A layer of sea life detritus coated the older rocks, and those fossil shells and corals persist in the Lake District today.
During the Carboniferous Period, mud infiltrated the shallow sea. Some 280 million years ago, another mountain-building event, the Variscan Orogeny, again lifted the rocks.
In the hundreds of millions of years since today’s Lake District rocks formed, they not only rose and fell vertically, they also traveled northward. The rocks of today’s national park sat well south of the equator about 500 million years ago.
In much more recent geologic time 2 million years ago Pleistocene glaciers crept southward to cover most of mainland Britain. The glaciers advanced and retreated multiple times, carving deep valleys that later filled with meltwater and rain. The volcanic rock holds the water in place rather than allowing it to seep out, sustaining the lakes that give the park its name.
More recently, the last ice age, around 20000 years ago, saw an ice slab 900 meters thick (just below the highest Lakeland peaks) cover the park.
And now, all this history AND the countries most beautiful scenery is just a few hours from anywhere in Britain.
Significant investment has been underway for the last two decades with well over 2 million pounds being invested in the latest technologies to make us not just a great place to visit but also one of the greenest parks in the land.
Click the link to check our availability and make your booking.
