Rooms as she left them
Potter's furniture, china and belongings have stayed in place since 1943, and corner after corner matches a drawing in one of her books.
Chris Brown — CC BY 2.0 · Michael Dibb — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Michael Dibb — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Richard Humphrey — CC BY-SA 2.0
In 1905 Beatrix Potter spent her Peter Rabbit royalties on a small farm in the village of Near Sawrey, then drew its house, garden and lanes into book after book until the place became one of her characters. The 17th-century stone farmhouse stands today as she left it at her death in 1943: her furniture, her china, her own belongings in their places, and the cottage garden anyone who has read Tom Kitten or Jemima Puddle-Duck will recognise on sight. That is the real pleasure here, opening a book to a page and finding the very staircase or doorway in front of you. Be clear about the scale before you set off. The house is a handful of rooms, the visit inside takes twenty to thirty minutes, and entry runs on timed slots because the rooms hold only a few people at a time. If you do not know the books you will see a pretty farmhouse and little more; if you grew up on them it is closer to a pilgrimage. The garden, the village and the views to the fells are the photogenic part, and the garden is at its best in May and June. Small children are usually given a trail to follow round the house, but pushchairs stay outside and the stairs are narrow and old. Getting here from Bowness, the hub of the Lake District, is a trip in itself: the car ferry crosses Windermere from Ferry Nab to Ferry House in about ten minutes, then it is three kilometres uphill to Near Sawrey by car (five minutes) or on foot (around 40 minutes). Allow roughly 25 minutes by car in total if the ferry is not busy; on summer holiday days the queue for it can run half an hour or more. The alternative is the loop round the south of the lake via Newby Bridge in about 40 minutes, or from Ambleside via Hawkshead (about 11 km, 20 minutes) on narrow lanes. The car park is tiny, limited to two hours and closed by 17:30, only pre-booked ticket holders may use it and booking does not hold a space for you, and there is no direct bus to the village. Adults pay £17, children £8.50 and a family ticket £42.50, a little more if you choose to add Gift Aid; National Trust members enter free but still need to book a slot. Tickets open two weeks ahead and in July and August they can be gone early, so book as soon as you can. The published hours are 10:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, but which days it opens changes between summer and winter, so check the calendar on the National Trust page before you set off. Pair it with Hawkshead village, where the Beatrix Potter Gallery sits in the old office of her solicitor husband William Heelis (check its opening times too), and the small lake of Tarn Hows fifteen minutes away, and the outing becomes a proper half day.
Potter's furniture, china and belongings have stayed in place since 1943, and corner after corner matches a drawing in one of her books.
The cottage garden from Tom Kitten and the lanes from Jemima Puddle-Duck are the photogenic part, at their best in May and June.
Ten minutes across Windermere by car ferry from Bowness, then a short climb to the village, is half the fun of the day.
Near Sawrey, near Hawkshead, LA22 0LF
Honestly, no. The house is small, the visit is short and the whole pleasure lies in recognising the scenes she drew. For small children who do not know the stories, the World of Beatrix Potter in Bowness suits better: indoors, warm, full of life-size characters, with no ferry and no scramble for slots. Save Hill Top for those who have read the books.
By car, no: the car park is tiny, only pre-booked ticket holders may use it, and the National Trust asks everyone, members included, to book a slot. Arriving on foot, by bike or as a ferry passenger you may still find a ticket on the spot, but in July and August the walk-up slots go early. The safe move is to book as soon as tickets open, two weeks ahead.
