Willowmere

Willowmere is a small, round pool located in Mr. Barry's field, a feature of the Avonlea landscape that Anne Shirley and Diana Barry incorporate into their richly imagined world. The name itself is a product of Anne's reading: she took it from a book Diana lent her, a detail that underscores how literature and imagination together transform the ordinary countryside into a realm of romance and adventure. The pool is one of several sites—alongside Lover's Lane, Violet Vale, the Birch Path, and the Dryad's Bubble—that Anne and Diana rename and claim as their own, weaving them into the fabric of their daily walks to school and their hours of play.

Location and Character

Willowmere is a small, round body of water, described as lying in Mr. Barry's field. It is not a large or dramatic feature, but its very modesty makes it a perfect canvas for Anne's imagination. The pool is part of the network of paths and places that connect Green Gables and Orchard Slope, the homes of Anne and Diana. It lies along the route the girls take to school, a route that Anne considers so romantic it "couldn't be improved upon even by imagination." The name "Willowmere" itself evokes a sense of quiet, reflective beauty, suggesting still water and overhanging willow trees, though the text does not specify the presence of willows. The pool is a place of stillness and reflection, a contrast to the more dramatic "Lake of Shining Waters" (Barry's pond) and the rushing brook near Green Gables.

Role in Anne and Diana's World

Willowmere is a key landmark in the girls' shared geography of the imagination. It is one of the places they visit and talk about, a setting for their conversations and their games. Anne mentions it in her enthusiastic reports to Marilla, listing it alongside Idlewild and the Dryad's Bubble as one of the delights of her new life. The pool is a place where the girls can be alone together, away from the watchful eyes of adults, and where they can indulge in their love of naming and storytelling. It is a site of friendship, a place where the bond between Anne and Diana is strengthened through shared experience and shared imagination. The pool's name, borrowed from a book, also reflects Anne's habit of reimagining the world through literature, a practice that is central to her character and her way of coping with her difficult past.

Narrative Significance

Willowmere, like the other named places in Avonlea, serves to deepen the reader's sense of Anne's inner life and her transformative power. By renaming the pool, Anne does not change its physical reality, but she changes its meaning, both for herself and for Diana. This act of imaginative possession is a small but significant assertion of agency for a girl who has had so little control over her own life. Willowmere is a testament to the power of imagination to create beauty and meaning in the most ordinary of settings. It is a place where the girls can be "kindred spirits," sharing their dreams and secrets, and where the world of books and the world of Avonlea merge into one. The pool is a quiet but essential part of the landscape that Anne comes to love and call home, a place that, like Green Gables itself, becomes a symbol of belonging and happiness.