Crook offers two clear perspectives for planning a trip: the landscape of the fells, with driving and riding routes between hamlets and villages, and the history of the area, with churches, bridges, a house, a barn and former industries. Its architectural history spans a tower believed to date from the 17th century to the demolition of a church building in the 19th century. There is also the history of former mill work and a route from Windermere to Crook and back to Windermere. If you are looking for a destination with a rural landscape and specific historical themes, these highlights can help you assess Crook.
Churches and regional orientation
The tower of the Old Parish Church of St Catherine is believed to have been built in 1620; the rest of the church was demolished in 1887. The tower’s tentative date and the later demolition mark two different moments in its architectural history.
St Catherine's Church is on the B5284 between Kendal and Bowness-on-Windermere. Its location on the road is therefore clearly identified for regional orientation. As local access conditions may change, check them before visiting.
The tower of the Ruined Church of St Catherine is protected as a Scheduled Monument. This protected status adds another perspective on the tower’s history.
Bridges and rural architecture
Pack Horse Bridge is a Grade II listed building. Birks Bridge is a clapper bridge over the River Winster and probably dates from the 17th or 18th century. At Pack Horse Bridge, the focus is on its protected status; at Birks Bridge, it is on the structure, its location over the river and its tentative date. This makes it possible to distinguish between different aspects of the bridges’ history.
High Mill House is a 17th-century house with a collar-beam truss on the upper floor. The barn northeast of Michelland House is a 19th-century bank barn. There is a cowshed beneath the threshing floor and a stable beneath the hayloft. One example draws attention to a structural detail of a house, while the other shows the functional layout of an agricultural building.
Industry and landscape
Former work is also part of the area’s history. Woollen yarn was processed and wooden bobbins were turned at Crook Mill until 1830; Birks Mill had an engineering works in the 19th century. This places textile processing and bobbin-making alongside another industry: engineering. The mills thus add the work associated with them to the architectural history.
A group of fells extends eastward towards Crook; driving and riding routes connect hamlets and villages. This landscape perspective is a distinct focus for travellers who do not want to base their stay solely around individual buildings.
The Windermere–Crook–Windermere route runs from Windermere to Crook and back to Windermere. If you plan to cycle it, check current route conditions before setting off. When planning, you can therefore consider two different scales: routes between hamlets and villages, and a named return route between Windermere and Crook.
Crook as a destination for your hotel search
If you would like to combine several of these themes, you can shortlist Crook as a destination based on these features of the area. Then search specifically for hotels in Crook and tailor your choice to your own travel plans.
Discover more destinations: Nether Wasdale, Stapleton, Gamblesby, Brough, Penrith, Penruddock, Seascale, Elterwater
For the wider travel overview: Cumbria.
