Best Museums in the Lake District
SOMETHING old, something new, something for everyone at the best museums in the Lake District. This is a fascinating area with a very curious history as well as a magnificent landscape. So if you want a rest day from the hills, or want to learn more about Cumbria, here’s our choice of the best museums in the Lake District.<\/p>
Hawkshead Grammar School
Hawkshead Grammar School<\/strong>
An unusual choice, but this is one of the quirkiest of the best museums in the Lake District. It offers an insight into village life, dating back to the 16th century. The Museum is in the old Grammar School building in the popular tourist village of Hawkshead. This is where the poet William Wordsworth and his brothers came to school. They were “boarders” and lodged with Ann Tyson, first in Hawkshead and later in Colthouse, about half a mile away along the shore of Esthwaite Water.
Wordsworth liked to walk around the lake and roam the fields before and after school, and it is easy to imagine that today as both the school and the village look much as they did in Wordsworth's day.
Desks in the school room date back as far as 1675 and they are covered in carvings done by the students, using their pen-knives. And yes, William Wordsworth's name is carved into one of them.<\/p>
The Armitt Museum and Library
The Armitt<\/strong>
The Armitt Museum and Library is one of our favourite museums depicting the life of the Lake District, particuarly over the last 100 years or so. It’s in Ambleside, just a few minutes drive from us here at the Cedar Manor. There’s a library on the first floor containing books about Lakeland heritage, and also a big collection bequeathed by the Fell and Rock Climbing Club.
There’s also some wonderful art by Beatrix Potter, showing how she was much more than just a creator and illustrator of children’s books. She was also a mycologist, with a specialism in mushrooms and fungi, and many of her detailed paintings are here.
At the moment there’s also a fascinating exhibition about Charlotte Mason, a teacher and educationist who founded a teacher training college which is now the University of Cumbria. The campus is just next door to the museum. Charlotte was one of a group of influential women who were at the heart of social and cultural life in Ambleside.
Do check the website for opening days and times, currently Weds – Sun 10 - 5.<\/p>
Ruskin Museum
Ruskin Museum<\/strong>
In the middle of Coniston village, the Ruskin Museum tells the story of the people, many of them heroes, who have lived and worked here. There’s a great deal of detail about the world water and land speed record holders, Donald Campbell and his father Malcolm. There’s exhibits about the first rock climbers, and founders of the mountain rescue teams. There’s the history of copper-mining and quarrying in the Coniston fells. And there’s tributes to Arthur Ransome, the creator of the Swallows and Amazons stories which were set on the shore of the lake here.
The museum was established in 1901 by the local artist and antiquarian W.G. Collingwood. He had been secretary to the great writer, philosopher and art critic John Ruskin, whose home you can visit on the other side of the lake at Brantwood. There’s also a temporary exhibition by artist Joan Prickett, The Human Connection, on display in the Dawson gallery until November 19.<\/p>
Keswick Museum
Keswick Museum<\/strong>
We love this curious and fascinating museum located on the edge of beautiful Fitz Park and near the Keswick to Threlkfeld railway walking trail. It features life in and around Keswick over the centuries, the characters, industries, arts and many stories that have put the town firmly on the Lake District map.
The museum holds around 20,000 objects which reflect life in the Keswick area, although only a small fraction of these is on display at any one time. There are also special exhibitions, and these two run until the end of this year. The Literature area is celebrating Robert Southey, one of the Lake Poets who was a contemporary of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. But did you know he was also the author of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?
In the Arts and Crafts area, there’s an exhibition featuring the Keswick School of Industrial Art. The exhibition shows the various tools crafters used. A workbench with brass rubbing allows children to create their own KSIA patterns. The museum has an excellent adjoining cafe, called Café West, with both indoor and outdoor seating and magnificent views of the hills. It’s run by West House who provide support services and training to people with disabilities.<\/p>
Lakeland Motor Museum
Lakeland Motor Museum<\/strong>
And now for the big daddy among these small and intimate museums. The Lakeland Motor Museum is one of the best museums in the Lake District. It’s just next to the A590 between Newby Bridge and Haverthwaite, only 20 minutes’ drive from us here at the Cedar Manor. And it really does have something for everyone, not just motoring fans.
It’s a big space, and there’s a brilliant collection of around 30,000 exhibits. That includes 140 classic cars and motorbikes, all meticulously assembled over the past 50 years. The Museum isn’t just about cars. The entire collection is presented in a social context, so there are period shop displays, the history of fashion, the story of local industries including the gunpowder factory, and much more. Adjoining the museum is the popular Cafe Ambio with seating overlooking the river Leven.
See website for prices and opening times.<\/p>