The valley rises in the central Lake District, and runs north carrying the River Derwent into the lake of Derwentwater. The waters of the river have their origins over a wide area of the central massif of the Lake District north of Esk Hause and Stake Pass. These origins include drains from the northern end of Scafell, Great End, the eastern side of the Dale Head massif, the western part of the Central Fells and all the Glaramara ridge. Near Rosthwaite the side valley of Langstrath joins the main valley from Seathwaite before the combined waters negotiate the narrow gap known as the Jaws of Borrowdale. Here it is flanked by the rocky crags of Castle Crag and Grange Fell. The valley then opens out around Grange before the river empties into Derwentwater, overlooked by Catbells, Skiddaw and Walla Crag.
At the time of the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 438 people, living in 137 households.[2][3] The 2011 Census showed that the population had declined to 417 residents among 128 households.[4]
Sometime before 1565 (some sources say as early as 1500), a major deposit of graphite was discovered near the Seathwaite hamlet in Borrowdale parish.[5][6] The locals found that it was useful for marking sheep. The graphite was pure and solid, and it could easily be sawn into sticks; the pencil industry was born in nearby Keswick. The graphite find remains unique.[7][8][9][10][11]
In literature
In the first of Sir Hugh Walpole's series of four novels Rogue Herries about the Herries family, Borrowdale is the site of a fictional house called Herries, the home of Francis Herries, the protagonist of the novel. Subsequent novels in the series are also largely set in Borrowdale. The valley and its surrounding mountains are described in sympathetic detail.
Walpole himself had a house at Brackenburn, Manesty, overlooking Derwent Water from 1924 until his death in 1941. Hazel Bank Country House was the fictional home of Rogue Herries and birthplace of Judith Paris. Walpole was a friend of the Simpson family, who owned Hazel Bank. This is where Walpole found the inspiration for the "Herries Chronicles".
^Strens, R. G. J. (2009). "The Graphite Deposit of Seathwaite in Borrowdale, Cumberland". Geological Magazine. 102 (5): 393–406. doi:10.1017/S0016756800053668. S2CID129924824.
