The Lake District

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The National Trust   |   Historic Houses and Gardens

Historic Houses and Gardens

Amidst incredible natural beauty you will also find magnificent man-made contributions - Blackwell, Holker Hall; Muncaster Castle, Gardens and Owl Centre; Levens Hall and Topiary Gardens; Sizergh Castle and Garden; Cartmel Priory Gatehouse; Dalton Castle; Townend. Those with literary connections include Beatrix Pottersí Hill Top, Wordsworthís House, Dove Cottage, and Ruskinís Brantwood. Many have beautiful and varied gardens, as do Holehird, Fell Foot Park, Acorn Bank Garden and Watermill, and Stagshaw Gardens.

Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal

Abbot Hall is one of the few places that you can see and enjoy art in a truly relaxed and friendly atmosphere. A vibrant but manageable selection of works is displayed with care, and can be enjoyed in the setting of elegant Georgian rooms of classical proportions. Abbot Hall is a jewel of a building sitting on the banks of the River Kent, surrounded by a park and overlooked by the ruins of Kendal Castle.
Telephone 01539 722464 | www.abbothall.org.uk

Acorn Bank Garden and Watermill, near Penrith

Delightful sheltered garden, renowned for its herbs and orchards growing old English fruit varieties.
Telephone 017683 61893 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Beatrix Potter Gallery, Hawkshead

Gallery showing original book illustrations by Beatrix Potter, with information about her life.
Telephone 015394 36355 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Blackwell: The Arts and Crafts House, near Windermere

Blackwell is one of England's most important surviving houses from the turn of the 20th century. Designed by M. H. Baillie Scott between 1898 and 1900, it is a superb example of Arts and Crafts movement architecture. It occupies a stunning position overlooking Windermere in the English Lake District and has recently been restored and opened to the public as a gallery for craft and applied arts.
Telephone 015394 46139 | www.blackwell.org.uk

Brantwood, Coniston

The word “Brant” is Norse for steep, and the house seems to climb along the fell side and almost grows out of the living rock. Brantwood is indeed an extraordinary structure, perched on a narrow shelf at the foot of a steep mountain (or “fell”) side, high above Coniston Water. The location is a key element for the understanding of a building that well illustrates Ruskin’s concept of “organic architecture”. The original seven rooms that Ruskin used during his lifetime are open to the public and filled with original furniture, art and objects. As Brantwood is still very much a home, the spirit of Ruskin pervades throughout the site.
Telephone 015394 41396 | www.brantwood.org.uk

Cartmel Priory Gatehouse

Situated in the heart of a beautiful village, this is a 14th-century gatehouse of medieval priory.
Telephone 01524 701178 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Dalemain, near Ullswater

Historic Family Home and delightful Lake District Gardens with a restaurant, tea room and agricultural and countryside collections
Telephone 017684 86450 | www.dalemain.com

Dalton Castle, near Ulverston

Dalton Castle with its 14th Century Pele Tower, dungeons and spiral staircase, was built after the Scots raid by Robert Bruce in 1322 on the instructions of the Abbot of nearby Furness Abbey.
Telephone 01524 701178 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere

Dove Cottage was Wordsworth’s home until 1808; eight years of ‘… plain living, but high thinking’, during which Wordsworth produced what are now regarded as his finest works. It is through his sister Dorothy’s journals, kept at Dove Cottage, that the daily life of the poet and his family is illustrated so clearly.
Telephone 015394 35544 | www.wordsworth.org.uk

Fell Foot Park, Newby Bridge

A Victorian country park, restored to its former glory beside Lake Windermere, offers magnificent views of the Lakeland fells.
Telephone 015395 31273 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Graythwaite Gardens

Graythwaite Hall Gardens deftly illustrate the genius of Thomas Mawson. Commisioned in 1896 he was instructed to utilise the existing contours and landscape to make a garden combining the formal and informal.
Telephone 015395 31333 | www.graythwaitehall.co.uk

Hill Top (home of Beatrix Potter) Near Sawrey, Hawkshead

Delightful small 17th-century house where Beatrix Potter wrote many of her famous children's stories.
Telephone 015394 36269 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Holehird (home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society), Windermere

The Lakeland Horticultural Society's beautiful Holehird Gardens above Windermere are maintained solely by volunteers.
Telephone 015394 46008 | www.holehirdgardens.org.uk

Holker Hall and Gardens, Cark in Cartmel

The home of Lord and Lady Cavendish, situated near the historic village of Cartmel.
Telephone 015395 58328 | www.holker-hall.co.uk

Levens Hall and Topiary Gardens

Magnificent Elizabethan Historic House and World Famous Topiary Gardens.
Telephone 015395 60321 | www.levenshall.co.uk

Muncaster Castle, Gardens and Owl Centre, Ravenglass

Muncaster Castle, home to the Pennington family for 800 years, is a genuine treasure trove of art and antiques. The wild setting of ancient woods and soaring mountains provides opportunities to explore the designated paths and walks.
Telephone 01229 717614 | www.muncaster.co.uk

Rydal Mount and Gardens

The historic home and garden of William Wordsworth: “Nowhere on earth have I seen a spot of more perfect and enjoyable beauty” Thomas Arnold.
Telephone 015394 33002 | www.rydalmount.co.uk

Sizergh Castle, near Kendal

This imposing medieval castle (extended in Elizabethan times) has an exceptional series of oak-panelled rooms culminating in the Inlaid Chamber. Handsome gardens set in a 638ha estate.
Telephone 015395 60070 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Steam Gondola, Coniston Water

Victorian steam-powered yacht on Coniston Water, first launched in 1859: "The best boat ride in the Lakes". Private bookings available.
Telephone 015394 41288 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Stagshaw Gardens, Ambleside

A steep woodland garden, noted for its flowering shrubs.
Telephone 015394 46027 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Townend, Troutbeck

A fine example of Lake District vernacular architecture, Townend House presents a unique insight into the life of one Lake District family through the centuries. The house was built in 1626 for George Browne, a 'statesman' (wealthy yeoman) farmer and his new bride, Susannah Rawlinson. It remained with the family until 1943 when it transferred into National Trust ownership. Townend is now the most famous of the statesman's houses in Cumbria.
Telephone 015394 32628 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Wordsworth House, Cockermouth

A fine Georgian town house, the birthplace and childhood home of William Wordsworth.
Telephone 01900 820884 | www.nationaltrust.org.uk

World of Beatrix Potter

See Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Mrs. Tiggy-winkle and all their friends at the definitive Beatrix Potter Attraction in the English Lake District.
Telephone 015394 88444 | www.hop-skip-jump.com