The Lake District is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Learn more about what this means for protecting our landscape, preserving our traditions, and how the inscription can be used to promote our rich and diverse visitor economy.
The purpose of the World Heritage List is to identify properties that have “Outstanding Universal Value”; a “cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity” (Operational Guidelines for the World Heritage Convention 2023, Para 49).
A group of local, regional and national organisations worked together to make the Lake District a World Heritage Site. We are now England's premier national park joining Egypt's pyramids, the Taj Mahal and Hadrian's Wall as an internationally recognised site.
This partnership sought inscription under the cultural landscape category. The spectacular landscape of the Lake District has been shaped by farming, industry, picturesque landscape design and the conservation movement. It stimulated poets and artists of the romantic movement from the late 18th century and conservationists from the 19th century.
It continues to culturally inspire the millions who seek out what captivated Wordsworth, Ruskin and Beatrix Potter.
Lake District World Heritage Farm Baseline Survey 2022 (PDF)
