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Hawkshead(See also Ambleside , Coniston and Tarn Hows)
Sited at the junction of packhorse routes linking the ferries of Windermere with the Coniston valley, it was a natural place for a market to develop. James I first granted its market charter in 1608. Charcoal, hardwood, and wool were sold. Spinning galleries were set up to take advantage of the wool trade. As a natural development of the market, a number of inns flourished. The 15th century Red Lion was once a coaching inn. The village square is watched over by the Market House where butchers used to sell their wares. A stream, subsequently covered over with flagstones, flowed down Flag Street and provided water for the villagers. Rag St, Putty St, and Leather St reflect the businesses that were housed along them-tailors, painters, and cobblers.
Beatrix Potter gave a number of buildings in the village to the National Trust. One now houses a gallery showing her original drawings for her children's books. Her husband, William Heelis, a solicitor, used the building for his practice.
Hawkshead puts on both a Victorian fair and an agricultural/sports show in the summer. It's a very busy tourist centre.
Location Map of Hawkshead Hawkshead Courthouse Beatrix Potter Gallery Photos courtesy of Barbara Ballard , Graeme Dougal and Julian Thurgood © 1997-2008 by The Cumbria Directory. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part, including images, and reproduction in electronic media, without documented permission from The Cumbria Directory is prohibited. |
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Hawkshead is set halfway between Coniston Water and Windermere near the
northern edge of Esthwaite Water. The hillsides surrounding the village are part of Grizedale
Forest. There's been a village here since Viking times-Haukr was the name of the Viking who
founded the village.
Wordsworth found inspiration at Hawkshead for his early poetry.
From 1779 to 1787, he went to the Old Grammar School founded in 1585 by Dr. Edwin Sandsy of the
Graythwaite family. A future Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York, Sandsy spent time in
prison for his support of Lady Jane Grey for queen. The school is now a museum and library.
Original desks include one on which Wordsworth carved his name. An old sundial is set into the
wall above the school's door in honour of the Archbishop.
St Michael and All Angels church was
founded around the time of the Norman conquest and brought up-to-date during Queen Elizabeth I's
reign, with further building carried out during the time of Charles I. Described by Wordsworth as
'snow white. . . like a throned lady', it sits on a hillside looking over the streets below.
Furness Abbey mentions it in their writings around 1200. Inscriptions
inside are dated 1711. The church architecture is somewhat plain with a low west tower containing
eight bells. The 70-foot long nave's large columns support round arches. Walls are decorated with
murals from the 1860's.
Wordsworth and his brother Richard boarded at Ann Tyson's
cottage in Hawkshead when they attended school here after the death of their mother. The Tyson
family lived both in the village and, when widowed, Mrs. Tyson lived in a cottage at Colthouse,
outside Hawkshead.
A Quaker meeting house dated
1688 lies nearby, and a 15th century building, the Courthouse, sits at the junction of
the Coniston and Ambleside roads north of the village. It was once part of a group of manorial
buildings belonging to Furness Abbey.
Hawkshead contains 38 buildings of
architectural and historical interest. The traffic free village's narrow cobbled streets,
squares, and courtyards are set off by whitewashed cottages. Overhanging eaves, grey slate roofs,
leaded windows, and flights of stone steps parading up the walls are a true delight to the
eye.