Lake District is Britain’s first national park to be declared a World Heritage Site

The Lake District has finally been awarded World Heritage Site status – yet another reason to visit Cumbria this year

Often described as Beatrix Potter Country, the Lake District, in Cumbria, is one of Britain’s most famous natural wonders.

The largest of Britain’s 10 national parks, watch the video to find out why people feel so passionately about the Lake District’s designation as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Lake District is home to Scafell Pike – England’s highest hill – and numerous lakes, meres and tarns. Interestingly, Bassenwaite Lake is the only water called a lake.

It’s gentle shores have inspired many artists and painters – most notably English poet William Wordsworth, who was born locally. Wordsworth’s Daffodils poem (“I wander’d lonely as a cloud”) is considered the quintessential Lake District poem.

The designation by UNESCO recognises the Lake District as a cultural landscape of international significance. Its inclusion as a World Heritage Site is due to its dramatic farmed landscape, the part it played in inspiring great works of art and literature, and its role in the birth of conservation.

See gorgeous PHOTOS of the Lake District