'Hawkshead - Beatrix Potter Gallery'

Main St, Hawkshead, LA22 0NS. Tel: 015394 36355.
Email: beatrixpottergallery@nationaltrust.org.uk

Location : Hawkshead
Map - Ordnance Survey - SD 352982

The Beatrix Potter Gallery in Hawkshead is one of the National Trust's more unusual properties in that it has an interesting link with Beatrix Potter herself.

The 17th Century building, which was once the office of her husband, local solicitor William Heelis, has remained largely unaltered since his day. The Gallery houses an annually changing exhibition of a selection of Beatrix Potter's original drawings and illustrations.

Beatrix Potter was however much more than a gifted artist and author. She was, without question, a determined preserver of her beloved Lake District and a great believer in the aims of the fledgling National Trust, bequeathing her numerous farms and land to the Trust in 1943.

The Gallery also contains a display covering the story of her life through its various stages, which offers an unique insight into her life and times. There is a reconstruction of part of William Heelis' office.

See National Trust handbook entry.