Coniston Water

Coniston Water
View from Holme Fell, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north
Location	Lake District, Cumbria
Coordinates	54°21′N 3°04′W
Primary outflows	River Crake
Max. length	8.8 km (5.5 mi)
Max. width	793 m (0.49 mi)
Surface area	4.7 km2
Average depth	24.1 m (79.1 ft)
Max. depth	56.1 m (184.1 ft)
Water volume	113.3 x 106 m³
Islands	2; Peel Island, Oak Island. 1 partial; (at high water) Fir Island

Coniston Water (usually called just Coniston) is a lake in Cumbria. It is the third largest lake in the Lake District. It is 8.0 kilometres (5 miles) long and 0.80 kilometres (0.5 miles) wide. The lake has an elevation of 143 feet (44 m) above sea level. It drains to the sea via the River Crake.

Waterspeed record

An Ordnance Survey map of Coniston Water from 1925

In the 20th century Coniston was the scene of many attempts to break the world water speed record. On August 19, 1939 Sir Malcolm Campbell set the record at 141.74 miles per hour (228.108 km/h) in Bluebird K4. Between 1956 and 1959 Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell set four successive records on the lake in Bluebird K7, a hydroplane.

In 1966 Donald Campbell decided that he needed to get over 300 miles per hour (483 km/h) to keep the record. On January 4, 1967 he achieved a top speed of over 320 miles per hour (515 km/h) in Bluebird K7 on the return leg of a record-breaking attempt. He then lost control of Bluebird, which somersaulted and crashed, sinking rapidly. Campbell was killed instantly on impact. The attempt could not be counted as a record-breaking run because the second leg was not completed.

Lady in the Lake

In recent times, Coniston Water has become known for a controversial murder case. Mrs Carol Park was dubbed the "Lady in the Lake" after the Raymond Chandler novel of the same name.