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Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. It is a ribbon lake formed in a glacial trough after the retreat of ice at the end of the last ice age some 13000 years ago.

The lake is largely surrounded by foothills of the Lake District which provide pleasant low-level walks; to the north and north-east are the higher fells of central Lakeland. It has been one of the country's most popular places for holidays and summer homes since the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway's branch line in 1847.

Belle Isle is the largest of 18 islands on Windermere and the only one ever to have been inhabited.

The Roman governor at Ambleside built a villa on the island. In 1250 it was the seat of the district's Lord of the Manor and it was also a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War.

It was formerly known as Longholm, before its renaming in 1774 when an unusual circular building, Belle Isle House, was erected on the island, which was sold along with the island to the wealthy Curwen family who renamed the island after their daughter, Isabella who bought the island in 1781. The descendants of Isabella and her husband John Christian Curwen lived on the island until 1993.

The island remains privately owned.