Coniston Water G. Collingwood wrote a historical novel "Thorstein of the Mere" about the Northmen who settled on the island in the lake. The Victorian and Edwardian artist Henry Robinson Hall settled in Coniston during the Great War and is buried in the parish church graveyard. Arthur Ransome set his children's novel "Swallows and Amazons" and the sequels "Swallowdale", "Winter Holiday", "Pigeon Post" and "The Picts and the Martyrs" around a fictional lake derived from a combination of Coniston Water and Windermere. The fictional lake resembles Windermere, but the surrounding hills and fells resemble those of Coniston Water. Some of Coniston Water's
Swallows and Amazons series adventures in the series, the children change roles and become explorers or miners. In the novel "Winter Holiday", the children meet Dick and Dorothea Callum, siblings visiting the area. Dick and Dorothea are often referred to as "The Ds" and appear in subsequent novels. Dick considers himself a scientist, while Dorothea sees herself as a writer. Two of the books feature the Callums without the Swallows or Amazons: "Coot Club" and "The Big Six". They are set in an accurate representation of the Norfolk Broads, particularly the small village of Horning and its surrounding rivers and broads. Two other books