Belle Isle is a wooded island in Lake Windermere, landscaped in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The island is one mile long - the longest in the lake. It has a long history dating back to Roman times when the commander at Ambleside built a villa here. It was also a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War. Formerly known as the Great Island, it was sold to Isabella Curwen for £1,720 after whom it was then named. The descendants of Isabella and her husband John Christian Curwen lived on the island until 1993.