Surrounding Villages

In the valleys around Hawkshead there are several small, picturesque hamlets and villages, which offer the visitor, to the area, local interest off the beaten track.

Quaker Friends’ Meeting House Colthouse

On the opposite side of the valley from Hawkshead is the small hamlet of Colthouse. The Quaker Friends’ Meeting House was founded before 1658 and is one of the oldest Quaker Meeting Houses in the “Birthplace of Quakerism”. Well preserved and maintained, it is set in its own walled gated grounds.
https://www.quaker.org.uk/meetings/colthouse

Hawkshead Hill

Situated between Hawkshead and Coniston, Hawkshead Hill is a small hamlet with a Baptist Chapel – the only public building on the Hill. There are also a number of homes, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation neatly tucked away in picturesque locations across the Hill. Nowadays it has no pub or post office but there are a couple of tearooms. The various routes to Tarn Hows take the visitor through this hamlet, which may seem sleepy, but the local residents enjoy a warm and active sense of community.

For information on the history of Hawkshead Hill, and details of local accommodation, you are invited to visit Hawkshead Hill Chapel, which is always open to visitors.

Outgate

This small hamlet stands along the Ambleside to Hawkshead road, around 1.5 miles north of Hawkshead. Here, you’ll find a popular local inn – the Outgate Inn – as well as several walks, including past Blelham Tarn to Wray Castle, or back across the field to Hawkshead.

Satterthwaite

The village of Satterthwaite was first mentioned in records dating back to the 14th century, but its name comes from the Old Norse language and means ‘summer pasture in a clearing’. Today, Satterthwaite has a small but friendly community with its own website, pub (the Eagles Head), a church (All Saints) which stands on the site of an early chapel and a Parish Room which can be hired for various functions. The village lies in the centre of Grizedale Forest Park, an increasingly popular attraction for visitors seeking outdoor activities such as walking and mountain biking.

Near & Far Sawrey (pic above)

Far Sawrey:

This small village, just a stone’s throw from the western shores of Windermere, is home to the Cuckoo Brow Country Inn, as well as St Peter’s Church and Braithwaite Hall, which is available for hire for functions and meetings.

Pure Lakes, a family run, natural skincare brand, are also based here. As well as handmaking all products from their workshop, they also host workshops where visitors can make soaps and candles.

Just a short distance away, in the direction of Hawkshead, is the pretty village of Near Sawrey. It is without a doubt best known as the home of Beatrix Potter, with the famous writer and illustrator creating many of her iconic characters here. Her beloved Hill Top House, today owned by The National Trust, is open to visitors who can explore the rooms and garden in which she found inspiration.

Guided walks of nearby Hill Top Farm, once farmed by Beatrix potter, are available through Hill Top Herdwick on select dates throughout the year.
Also in Near Sawrey is a popular village inn, The Tower Bank Arms. There is access from the village onto Claife Heights, which with its many footpaths and bridleways has some delightful walks. Fishing is available on Moss Eccles Tarn, with permits obtainable from the Tower Bank Arms.

Did you know? 
Also in Far Sawrey is The Sawrey Hotel incorporating the Claife Crier Bar, named after a local ghost. The legend is that the ghost is that of a monk from Furness Abbey whose mission was the rescue of fallen women. He apparently fell in love with one who rejected him, and went mad, dying, crying his anguish on the heights of Claife, which his ghost has haunted ever since. On one occasion, the ferryman mistook his cry for a call, and he went out for his fare. When he returned, his hair had turned white and he never spoke again.

Low & High Wray

The hamlets of Low and High Wray can be found along the quiet and secluded back road from Hawkshead and nearby Colthouse, nestling below Latterbarrow.

The Old Norse word Vra, from which the name Wray eventually evolved, means ‘nook or corner of good land between stretches of bog or useless moorland’ or ‘a remote and secluded place’. Either description fits well.

One of the treasures of Low Wray is the imposing edifice of the National Trust’s Wray: an impressive parkland and castle on the shores of Windermere. Be sure to check ahead for seasonal opening times and pop-up exhibitions.

Built in the Gothic Revival style in 1840, it may be known as a castle but Wray was only ever built as a private house, albeit one of the largest and grandest in the North West of England. William Wordsworth once said that Wray Castle ‘added a dignified feature to the interesting scenery in the midst of which it stands’.

Also at Low Wray is another secluded treasure: the church of St. Margaret’s of Antioch (now, sadly, no longer open to worship). The church was built in 1856 by James Dawson of Wray Castle, and he intended the Church to be used as ‘a chapel for ‘the spiritual benefit of his family, retainers, estate workers, servants and friends’. It was consecrated in 1861. The young Beatrix Potter, whose family rented Wray Castle for their lengthy summer holidays, would have been no stranger to St. Margaret’s Church.

Nearby, the National Trust’s Low Wray Campsite offers pitches for tents and campervans as well as pods and safari tents.

A half mile or so from Low Wray is High Wray: home to a tranquil mixture of private homes, National Trust cottages and farms including the National Trust tenanted High Wray Farm and Tock Howe Farm, both of which offer excellent farmhouse accommodation. 

The gently rolling hills and lanes of High and Low Wray are strikingly beautiful at any season. Footpaths and bridleways will take on peaceful adventures at every turn, from the Heights of Claife and Latterbarrow to the shores of the nearby Blelham Tarn, or to Windermere itself.

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