Picturesque Moss Eccles Tarn lies in the Claife Heights region and is one of a number of tarns situated between Lake Windermere and Esthwaite Water. It is a short walk away from the village of Near Sawrey.
"The tarn covers an area of five acres and is appointed a Site of Special Scientific Interest, it is now owned by the National Trust and is known for its wide variety of aquatic and wetland plants. The tarns reed fringed banks are home to a variety of wildfowl and in summer are the haunt of damselflies and dragonflies.
The children's author Beatrix Potter often fished at Moss Eccles Tarn. The water lilies which adorn its surface in the summer are said to have been the inspiration for the great children's favourite, the story of Jeremy Fisher. Beatrix Potter purchased the tarn in 1913, the year she married local solicitor William Heelis. Moss Eccles Tarn was bequeathed to the National Trust on her death."
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An information board situated beneath The National Trust omega shaped sign has pictures of a White Water Lily and a Common Blue Damselfly, and the text that reads as follows;
'THE NATIONAL TRUST
MOSS ECCLES TARN
"William and I fished (at least I rowed) till darkness; coming down the lane about eleven. It was lovely on the tarn, not a breath of wind...."
WELCOME TO MOSS ECCLES TARN, the tarn was bought by Beatrix Potter the writer and illustrator of childrens books in 1913, the same year that she married local solicitor William Heelis. Moss Eccles became a favourite pace for them to spend time in the evenings, they kept a boat here and planted one red water lily and one white water lily in the shallow waters.
The tarn is a special place for wildlife today and forms part
of the Claife Tarns and Mires, Site of Special Scientific
Interest. It is valued in particular for the wide
range of aquatic and wetland plants, and for it's
damselflies and dragonflies. If you see a flash of
bright blue above the water in the summer
months it is likely to be a common blue damselfly
hunting for insects amongst the fringe vegetation.'
Beatrix Potter lived at Hill Top, a traditional farmhouse, in the village of Near Sawrey for almost 40 years. Moss Eccles Tarn is located about a mile from Near Sawrey up the rough bridleway known as Stoney Lane, where Beatrix had her rowing boat and boat house. She spent many happy hours at the tarn with her husband William, sketching and drawing. (
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"Wainwright contends the "tarn" to be a reservoir, noting that none of the tarns on Claife Heights appear on 19th-century maps. He notes, however, that they are "not obtrusively artificial".
After Beatrix Potter and her husband William Heelis married in 1913, they lived in Castle Cottage in Far Sawrey and rowed on the tarn in summer evenings. Potter sketched near the tarn and her husband fished in it. In 1926, Potter bought part of the tarn, planting the water lilies and stocking it with fish. Along with much other land, it was left to the National Trust by Potter after her death in 1943. It was probably a combination of Moss Eccles Tarn and Esthwaite Water that served as inspiration for the home of Jeremy Fisher in The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher; the road to the tarn from Near Sawrey was also drawn by Potter for The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding. The "strange, flat bottomed boat" in which Potter and Heelis rowed is now housed in the Windermere Steamboat Museum; it was salvaged from the tarn in 1976.
Fishing
The tarn is stocked with brown trout, and the fishing rights are controlled by the Windermere, Ambleside and District Anglish Association on behalf of the National Trust. The membership of the association is open, and tickets to fish in the tarn can be bought from local pubs, service stations and fishing shops. There is a limit to two fish per day per person." SOURCE: (
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