Ravenglass
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Ravenglass

Ravenglass

Cumbrian Coast village in the Lake District, with an estuary, Roman ruins, and the Eskdale steam railway.

Ravenglass is the only village in the Lake District national park that lies on the Cumbrian Coast — a single street of whitewashed cottages running down to a triple-river estuary on the Irish Sea. The shingle foreshore is pleasant though not outstanding; the real reason to come is everything else within a mile of it.

The village is the terminus of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, a preserved 15-inch narrow-gauge steam line that runs seven miles up Eskdale — one of the loveliest of the Lake District valleys, and a back way in to Scafell Pike, the highest point in England. The Roman bath house of Glannoventa, with walls four metres high, stands a short walk inland. Muncaster Castle and Muncaster Mill lie a mile or two up the road.

Guide

Things to Do

Ravenglass is the starting point for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, a narrow-gauge steam line that runs seven miles up the beautiful Eskdale valley. The village also sits beside the most substantial Roman ruin in the north of England — the four-metre walls of the bath house at Glannoventa — and within a short walk or drive of Muncaster Castle, Muncaster Mill, and the triple-river estuary of the Esk, Mite, and Irt.

The village itself is a single street running down to the shingle foreshore; the whole place can be walked in ten minutes. Plan a half day for the railway and Muncaster Castle, or a longer day if you intend to ride to Dalegarth and walk in Eskdale.