Eskdale, Cumbria

Eskdale is a civil parish in the western Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. It is named after the Eskdale valley which the River Esk flows through on its way from the fells of the Lake District to the Irish Sea at Ravenglass. The civil parish is not coterminous with the valley, as the parish also includes the upper valley of the River Mite (Miterdale), whilst the lower reaches of the River Esk are in the civil parish of Muncaster.

In 2001 the parish had a population of 264, increasing to 304 at the 2011 Census. Most of the population is concentrated in the two villages of Eskdale Green and Boot that are within the parish.

One of the Lake District's most popular tourist attractions, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, runs through the parish, though along with other western parts of the Lake District, Eskdale is notably quieter during the high summer season than the more accessible eastern areas.

Governance
Eskdale has a parish council, and is also within the unitary authority of Cumberland. Both the parish and unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local govenment. The parish is also in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, but since 2023 this has had no administrative role.

At a national level, the parish is within the Copeland UK Parliamentary constituency.

History
The area became one of the locations involved in the Cumbria shootings perpetrated by 52-year-old taxi driver Derrick Bird, who shot and killed twelve people and wounded eleven others. Several of the wounded victims were shot in Eskdale and the surrounding area.

Literature
In a note to her poetical illustration (Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836) to a painting by G. Pickering, Letitia Elizabeth Landon remarks on the hospitality of the 'estatesmen' of this district.

Eskdale and Rafnglass (modern Ravenglass) feature in Rosemary Sutcliff's final novel Sword Song, set in the 9th century and published posthumously in 1997.