Lake District joins the list of world’s best sites

Reporter THE Lake District has been named as a World Heritage Site, Unesco has announced.

The region joins sites including the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, Stonehenge and – in the North East – Hadrian’s Wall and Durham Castle and cathedral on the prestigious list.

Former South Shields MP Lord Clark of Windermere, who chaired the Lake District’s bid, said the decision to recognise the region’s culture, art and literature, as well as its landscape, was “momentous”.

He said: “It is this exceptional blend which makes our Lake District so spectacularly unique and we are delighted Unesco has agreed.

“A great many people have come together to make this happen and we believe the decision will have long and lasting benefits for the spectacular Lake District landscape, the 18 million visitors we welcome every year and for the people who call the National Park their home.”

A Unesco committee in Krakow, Poland, backed the national park, in Cumbria, which was among 33 nominations of sites all over the world.

The bid was formally entered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Historic England and was the UK’s only submission in 2016.

John Glen, minister for arts, heritage and tourism, said: “The Lake District is one of the UK’s most stunning and ancient landscapes and I am thrilled it has been granted World Heritage Site status.

“It is a unique part of the world that combines a vibrant farming community with thousands of archaeological sites and structures that give us an amazing glimpse into our past. This decision will undoubtedly elevate the position of the Lake District internationally, boosting tourism and benefiting local communities and businesses.”

The region is known for its soaring fells as much as its lakes, including England’s longest, Windermere, and deepest, Wastwater.

The Lakes was an inspiration for some of the country’s best loved writers including Beatrix Potter and poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and John Ruskin.