St Herbert’s Isle, Keswick, Derwentwater

St Bega’s Way runs along the western shore of Derwentwater, offering a fine view of St Herbert’s hermitage island, which merits a pilgrimage by rowing boat too

Highlights

• ‍‍Hermit’s island
• Ruined hermitage or chapel buildings

St Herbert’s Isle has the most beautiful setting of all Britain’s holy places, gracing the cover of the British Pilgrimage Trust's book Pilgrim Places, book and its predecessor Britain’s Holiest Places.

The possible remains of his hermitage, by contrast, are less photogenic. If a 20-minute row across the lake from Keswick does not appeal, you can usefully contemplate this sacred landscape from the shore, the same view that inspired St Herbert, a hermit of the 7th century.

The island is easy to identify – the highest on the lake. A boatyard on the outskirts of Keswick hires rowing boats and will point you in the right direction, the holy island to the left of the inhabited island on the front cover of this book. Once you reach the island, there is a short spit of grey shingle at the nearest shore, an easy place to beach a boat or kayak.

Hidden in the woods at the back of this shingle spit is an area of ruined walls and strewn boulders. The most identifiable structure is the foundation of a circular building. The walls are barely waist high, but solidly built and mostly buried under earth and brambles.

St Herbert's Cell

The building is marked on the OS map as the ruin of a summerhouse, but the literary evidence hints at something more. John Leland in the 16th century described the building as a chapel. William Wordsworth wrote a short inscription about the island, in which he described the site as “The desolate ruins of St Herbert’s Cell”. Modern guidebooks claim it could be the trace of a Celtic hermit’s cell. It might date from later, since Christian activity continued throughout medieval times. In 1374, the Bishop of Carlisle granted an indulgence to anyone who visited the island on 20 March, the saint’s day. The indulgence amounted to 40 days less time in purgatory, a tempting offer that surely brought enough pilgrims to justify a chapel.

Indeed, the tradition of pilgrimage continues to this day, with an annual service held at the ruins by the Keswick Catholic church.

St Herbert was the spiritual twin of St Cuthbert, as recorded by Bede (History iv.29 and Life of Cuthbert, chapter 28), and the two used to meet each year. St Herbert valued their friendship so highly he asked that he be allowed to die on the same day as his confessor, afraid that his grief would be unbearable. St Cuthbert prayed for this unusual request when the two met at Carlisle in 686. As Bede records, both died on 20 March 687, St Herbert on his isle, and St Cuthbert on Inner Farne Island.

Over seven visits, I have spent a whole night here in lonely vigil, waded naked into the lake to pray, and accompanied two BBC television film crews, as I try to communicate the ineffable peace and connection to creation that the hermit’s life affords. Cuthbert and Herbert swapped tales of the “exhilarating draughts of heavenly life” that this outpost of spiritual purity affords. Nothing here has changed.

Directions

For rowing boats:

Keswick Launch Company, Lake Road, Lakeside, Keswick CA12 5DJ

W3W: pupils.skis.sunk

GPS: 54.5820N 3.1469W (island)‍

Rowing boats can be hired from the Keswick Launch Company, a short walk to the south of Keswick, next to the Theatre on the Lake. From the B5289 near the southern end of Keswick, follow signs at a mini roundabout for the lakeside and Hope Park. During the winter, boats are only available at weekends. Alternatively, try Nichol End Marine (www.nicholend.co.uk) in the little village of Portinscale to the west of Keswick, postcode CA12 5TY. It will take 20–30 minutes to row to St Herbert’s Island from either boatyard, a distance of just under a mile. The ruins are in the middle of the northern tip of the island, about 20m inland from the start of the shingle spit. There are regular cruises round the lake which pass near the island.