Natural History

There is no shortage of publications about the Natural History of Lakeland in modern times. In this section we present historical extracts that describe the status of wildlife in the past, noting the species we have lost and, in some cases, efforts to re-introduce them.

Nowadays, most people would be delighted to see a Golden Eagle, Pine Marten or Wildcat but in the days of subsistence farming these species were seen as pests, as the extract below clearly shows:

In his book ‘A Survey of the Lakes of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire’, by James Clarke published in 1789, he writes on pages 29/30 (88/89 in pdf) about how the Church Warden at Gowbarrow would pay the following bounty for the killing of these ‘Noxious Vermin’
Fox (10 Groats), Fox-Cub (3 Groats)
Pine Marten (3 Groats)
Eagles (3 Groats)
Wild Cat (3 Groats)
Raven (1 Groat)
During Whitsun Week in 1759, he paid bounties for 15 Foxes, 7 Badgers, 12 Wild Cats and 9 Martens, together with a prodigious number of Eagles and Ravens.
Note: A Groat was a silver coin with a face value of 4d. A typical farm labourer at that time would earn around 1 shilling a day (12d).

Birds

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Mammals

Click on the image to view the page about mammals

Page Author: Norman Jackson

Page Last Reviewed: 23 Jun 2025

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