If you have booked somewhere in Hawkshead, Near Sawrey or Far Sawrey, you have landed in the most literary square mile in England outside Grasmere — and arguably the more surprising one. Wordsworth went to school here. Beatrix Potter farmed here and wrote most of the tales here. The pub in Near Sawrey appears in Jemima Puddle-Duck. This guide is for anyone with a key to a cottage, inn or guesthouse in the Esthwaite valley.
Quick Facts
People come to Hawkshead for Beatrix Potter and leave without realising that William Wordsworth was educated here for eight years from the age of nine, lodging in the village and running wild across the surrounding fells. The grammar school, founded in 1585, is open in season — and his name is carved into a desk, which he did at some point when he should have been working. Given what the fells around here did to his imagination, it is not a bad claim to make that English Romanticism started partly in this building.
Hill Top is not a museum with a rope across the door. Beatrix Potter bought the farm in 1905 with the earnings from Peter Rabbit, kept it as a working farm, and left it to the National Trust on condition it stay exactly as she had it — right down to her possessions in place. It is small, and entry is timed and limited, which is precisely why it works: you are in her rooms rather than in a crowd.
Two practical points. Book ahead, because it sells out through the season. And walk the village afterwards with the illustrations in mind — the gate in Tom Kitten, the lane in Ginger and Pickles, and the Tower Bank Arms next door, which appears in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck almost exactly as it stands.
Between Hawkshead and the Sawreys lies Esthwaite Water — a small, shallow, private lake with no road along most of it and very few visitors. It is one of the most nutrient-rich lakes in the district and consequently full of life: herons, otters if you are lucky, and some of the best coarse fishing in Cumbria. Wordsworth skated on it as a schoolboy and wrote about it later. Almost nobody stops.
Grizedale Forest south of Hawkshead has waymarked walking and cycling trails and a long-running outdoor sculpture collection scattered through the trees — genuinely good for a wet day, since the canopy takes the worst of it. And the Windermere car ferry from Far Sawrey is the quick route to Bowness and the eastern shore: minutes rather than the long way round by Newby Bridge, though it queues in August.
Supplies: Hawkshead has a small shop and good bakeries; the nearest proper supermarket is in Ambleside or Windermere. Do the big shop on the way in.
Parking: Hawkshead's car park is on the edge of the village and the village itself is largely pedestrian, which is a large part of why it is so pleasant. Near Sawrey has very little parking — another reason to stay rather than visit.
Evenings: the village pubs are genuinely good and get busy; book at weekends.
Roads: narrow, walled and slow in every direction. Allow more time than the mileage suggests.
You are on the quiet side of Windermere, which is lovely and slightly awkward. Our tours carry seven guests at most; private days collect at your accommodation, which from here saves the ferry queue entirely.
The grand sweep: ten lakes, the high passes between them, and an Ullswater Steamers cruise exclusive to this tour. If a celebration stay deserves one great day out, this is it.
See dates & bookCollected at the door, your party only, the day shaped to you — literary landscapes, hidden valleys, or simply the most beautiful roads we know. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard in our vehicle crates.
Enquire about a private dayDove Cottage at Grasmere — entry included as standard — and the valleys that made the poems, with Dora's Field carpeted gold in daffodil season. The right literary day for this most Georgian of addresses.
See dates & bookAcross the lake to Hill Top and Near Sawrey, with our illustration-matching walk through the village lanes — back for a long lakeside lunch.
See dates & bookThe afternoon version crosses the lake by boat rather than by road — worth choosing if you'd like the crossing itself to be part of the day.
See dates & bookA slow hall morning, then eight lakes and their valleys at a seven-seat pace — the most civilised way to spend a Lakeland afternoon.
See dates & bookThe same eight lakes as the afternoon tour, run the opposite way round in the morning — ideal if you'd rather keep your afternoon free for the lawns.
See dates & bookA full literary day east to Haworth — the Parsonage, the cobbled village, and the moors that gave Wuthering Heights its weather, newly magnetic with the recent film. Oxenholme pickup available.
See dates & bookInto the Dales for Grassington's "Darrowby", the Wensleydale Creamery, Kilnsey Crag and Bolton Abbey — filming locations brought to life around you with live scene technology.
See dates & bookFrom the Sawreys or Hawkshead a private day removes the two irritations of this side of the water — the ferry queue and the narrow roads. We collect at your door and shape the route around your party. Well-behaved dogs are welcome aboard, travelling safely in our vehicle crates.
Not sure which route suits your plans, or want a day built entirely from scratch — a family reunion, a wedding anniversary, scattering ashes somewhere that mattered? Tell us what you have in mind and we'll design a day around it — see our guide to celebrating a special occasion for ideas, or get in touch directly.
They are two small villages about half a mile apart on the road between Hawkshead and the Windermere ferry. Near Sawrey holds Hill Top and the Tower Bank Arms; Far Sawrey is closer to the ferry. 'Near' and 'Far' are relative to Hawkshead, not to anything you would expect.
If you are staying in Near Sawrey, yes — it is in the middle of the village. From Hawkshead it is about two miles by road, or a pleasant walk across the fields.
Ambleside library and Windermere station are the nearest, both a drive away — the Windermere car ferry shortens it considerably. On private tours we can usually collect you at your accommodation.
Yes. Hill Top at Near Sawrey is the farm she bought in 1905 and where she wrote and illustrated many of the tales. The village, the lanes, the gates and the Tower Bank Arms all appear in the illustrations, often barely altered.
A grammar school founded in 1585, where William Wordsworth was educated between 1779 and 1787. His desk, with his name carved into it, is still there.
We are an independent local tour operator. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by any hotel, inn or cottage owner in Hawkshead or the Sawreys.