Originally belonging to the monks of Furness Abbey, the Monk Coniston estate was developed in the late 18th and early 19th-centuries by the guiding hands of two families ...

The landscape we see today around the Monk Coniston estate has changed very little since those first wealthy families made their mark.

© National Trust

Building and tree-planting

The first of these was the influential Knott family, who made their fortune from iron-smelting in the Lake District and Scotland. They owned Monk Coniston from 1769-1835.

During this period there was an impressive programme of tree planting, major extensions to the building and the development of the beautiful pleasure grounds around the hall.	© National Trust

Extension and creation of Tarn Hows

In 1835 the estate was sold to James Garth Marshall. The Marshall family wealth came from the flax spinning industry in Leeds.  

© National Trust	James Garth Marshall bought more land to extend the estate and was responsible for creating Tarn Hows, a series of artificial lakes surrounded by woodland.

He also undertook further tree-planting, particularly exotic conifers, around the hall and across the estate.

© National Trust

Painting of Monk Coniston Hall (formerly known as Waterhead House) from 1865, by E R Barnes.

Dividing and reuniting

In 1926 when the Marshall family fortunes declined, the house and gardens were sold to John Perry Bradshaw. The rest of the estate, including all the farmland and Tarn Hows, was purchased by Beatrix Potter in 1930.

© NTPL	She immediately sold half at cost price to the National Trust, who bought the land with the help of a generous donation by Sir Samuel Scott of Windermere.

The remainder was passed on to the National Trust after Beatrix Potter’s death in 1943. In 1945 the National Trust purchased the hall and gardens, re-uniting the estate once more.

Today

Since 1945, Monk Coniston Hall has been leased by the National Trust to HF Holidays and the house and grounds closed to the general public.

© NTPL / Paul Harris

Though the hall remains in private tenancy, there is now a new path way through Monk Coniston garden and grounds, reconnecting Tarn Hows with the home of its creator.

• Find out more about the path way and walled garden restoration project