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Hill Top and Hawkshead
Beatrix Potter's farmhouse retreat: the inspiration for her little books.
Near Sawrey, Cumbria, LA22 0LF
Book a visit
Important notice
Please pre-book your tickets to use our car park. For a quieter visit, we recommend booking to visit in the afternoon. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
Please note car park is not suitable for camper vans or motor homes.
Thank you.
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Hill Top House & Garden
Ticket type With Gift Aid Without Gift Aid Adult (18+) £18.70 £17.00 Child (5-17) under 5s free £9.40 £8.50 Family (2 Adults and up to 3 children) £46.80 £42.50 Family 1 adult £28.10 £25.50 Become a member and discover more than 500 places
- Assistance dogs only
Assistance dogs only in the house. Dogs on leads are welcome in the garden.
- Bookshop
Our second-hand book nook is located in the Visitor Reception.
- Car park
Limited capacity in the car park. Please book your Hill Top tickets in advance.
- Cycle parking
Cycle parking is located outside Visitor Reception. Ask at the Visitor Reception if you want to borrow a lock. Puncture repair kit also available on request.
- Picnic area
Situated in the orchard including accessible picnic benches.
- Shop
Shop is located at the bottom of the orchard and has a selection of unique products available.
- Toilet
Baby items and feminine hygiene available free.
Unfortunately there is no wheelchair or step free access to the upper floor of the house. A video of the upstairs rooms are available on a tablet. Some steps into and out of the garden and uneven surfaces. Braille & large print guides are available from house entrance. Tactile tour available also. Please ask at house front door if you would like this. Ramp available for shop entrance. Ear defenders are available if you'd like to use them.
- Accessible toilet
Located in the Visitor Car Park .
- Braille (guide or menu)
Braille guides are available at the House.
- Designated parking
Due to the nature of the site, accessible parking is located at the farmhouse. Please ask at Visitor Reception for details.
- Drop-off point
Due to the nature of the site, accessible drop off point is located at the farmhouse. Please ask at Visitor Reception for details.
- Induction loop
At till points inside Visitor Reception and the Shop.
- Narrow corridors
- Seating available
Window seats available inside Hill Top. Benches and accessible picnic available in the orchard.
- Steps/uneven terrain
Four steps up to enter the site. Cobbled path up to Hill Top from the site entrance. Alternative smooth path available to use. Stairs to the upper level of Hill Top.
- Wheelchairs available
All terrain wheelchair available at Visitor Reception.
- On foot
There is an off-road path from the Windermere car ferry (2 miles), marked along the route. There is also a route (mostly off-road) from Hawkshead (2 miles).
- Cycling
Bike racks are available in the car park
- By bus
SEASONAL Catch the 525 Mountain Goat Bus Service between the Windermere Ferry and Hawkshead, calling at Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top. Running daily throughout the summer, from Saturday 24th May 2025 until Sunday 28th September 2025. £3 per fare.
- Windermere Lake Cruise Boat
SEASONAL: Windermere Lake Cruises Ferry Bowness to Ash Landing. Hill Top is 2 miles from the ferry drop. Catch the 525 Mountain Goat Bus Service to Hawkshead, stopping at Hill Top. Running daily throughout the summer, from Saturday 24th May 2025 until Sunday 28th September 2025, £3 per fare.
- By ferry
Ferry that carries cars, bicycles and foot passengers across Windermere lake from Ferry Nab in Bowness to Ferry House. The journey takes around 10 minutes, one way. The ferry can carry up to 18 cars and over 100 passengers.
- By road
Take the B5286 and B5285 from Ambleside (6 miles), or the B5285 from Coniston (7 miles).
Parking: Cars and bikes, please use our main car park. If coming by car, you must pre-book your admission ticket. The car park is small with limited capacity and has a two hour maximum stay. Car park closed at 17.30. Not suitable for camper vans/mobile homes.
- By train
The nearest train station is in Windermere, 4½ miles away via vehicle ferry. You can catch a bus from here, see below for more details.
Planning your visit
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Booking your visit
If you are travelling here by car you will need to book in advance to guarantee a parking space. Read this article to find out everything you need to know if you are planning a visit to Hill Top,
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Access at Hill Top
We want to make sure that Hill Top is equally accessible for all visitors and are taking taken steps to ensure that as many people as possible can experience Hill Top’s story.
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Visiting Hill Top with your dog
Find out which areas of Hill Top you can explore with your dog. Hill Top is a one pawprint rated place.
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Watch Hill Top on Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
See behind the scenes at Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top, with BBC2's Hidden Treasures of the National Trust on BBC iPlayer.
Highlights
House
Beatrix Potter's farmhouse retreat: the inspiration for her little books. Full of her favourite things, it was the place that inspired her stories and her love for the Lake District.
Garden
Informal flower beds planted in the English cottage-garden style, with flowers and vegetables. Look out for scenes from Beatrix Potter's little white books.
JOEY's Café (independently run)
Cosy coffee cabin in Beatrix Potter’s orchard, serving baked goods, savoury snacks, locally roasted coffee, teas and hot chocolate.
Shop
A small treasure trove of unique products. Every penny that you spend in our shop helps us to look after Hill Top for everyone, for ever.
Second Hand Book-nook
Pre-loved hardbacks, paperbacks, magazines and children's books for sale in the Ticket Office Second-Hand Book-nook. All money raised goes directly back into looking after Hill Top.
Hill Top Herdwicks*
The Dixons, who have farmed at Hill Top for thirty-five years, run farm tours on selected dates, offering a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the working Lakeland farm as it is today. *This event is run externally by our tenant farmers but can be booked at the Hill Top visitor reception.
Things to see and do
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Things to do in Hill Top house
See Beatrix Potter’s house as she wanted you to see it. It’s filled with her belongings and you can match up illustrations from her books with scenes there today.
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Things to do in Hill Top garden
Discover Beatrix Potter's garden, restored to how it was in her time, with the carefully tended vegetable plot and views of the pretty cottage garden from the famous path.
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Cracking Beatrix’s Coded-Writing
From ages 15 to 30, Beatrix Potter kept coded journals, using an invented coded cypher system. Now, on display for the very first time at Hill Top are several pieces of newly transcribed code-writing.
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Watch Hill Top on Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
See behind the scenes at Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top, with BBC2's Hidden Treasures of the National Trust on BBC iPlayer.
Spotlight events
Imagine a World: Story-led yoga for families
Join author Jenny Clark in the orchard for some short yoga sessions inspired by her book ‘Imagine a World’.
Mischief in Miniature
The Tale of Two Bad Mice comes to life at Hill Top, with little needle-felted mice in various mischievous scenes around the property for you to try and spot.
Talks in the orchard
Eager to know more about Beatrix Potter? What better place to learn more about her than in her orchard?
Shopping
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Shopping at Hill Top
The Hill Top shop has a variety of gifts inspired by Beatrix Potter and her life in the Lake District.
Places to stay
Tanner Brow
Sitting on the western shore of Lake Windermere, this first floor apartment is a cosy retreat.
High Strawberry Gardens
A simple lakeside retreat for an uplugged holiday, with a jetty to launch your canoe or kayak in Windermere.
Low Strawberry Gardens
A simple lakeside retreat for an uplugged holiday, with a jetty to launch your canoe or kayak into Windermere.
Trees
A 1930s log and stone cabin high above Lake Windermere with a sun terrace and great views.
Rose Castle Cottage
A two-bedroom cottage just above Tarn Hows with heaps of character in the heart of the Lakes.
Low Wray Campsite
By Windermere, England’s largest lake, surrounded by things to do and places to visit.
The Summer House
A cosy house in the old kitchen garden of Wray Castle with views of stunning scenery all around.
Upcoming events
Event
My Dear Beatrix...
Send Beatrix Potter a letter about your connection to her, her stories, and the Lake District that she loved and was inspired by.
Event
Mischief in Miniature
The Tale of Two Bad Mice comes to life at Hill Top, with little needle-felted mice in various mischievous scenes around the property for you to try and spot.
Event
Imagine a World: Story-led yoga for families
Join author Jenny Clark in the orchard for some short yoga sessions inspired by her book ‘Imagine a World’.
Event
Hill Top Herdwick - Exclusive Guided Walks
Join the Hill Top Farm team on an exclusive guided tour at Hill Top Farm, Near Sawrey, renowned as the first farm owned by Beatrix Potter.
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Conservation in Action
Have you ever wondered how our team cares for Hill Top and the objects Beatrix Potter left to the National Trust?
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Creating crafty creatures!
Get crafty with The Knotted Project Theatre Company during half-term at Tabitha Twitchit's Bookshop in Hawkshead!
About Hill Top and Hawkshead
Enjoy the tale of Beatrix Potter by visiting Hill Top. Full of her favourite things, it was the place that inspired her stories and her love for the Lake District.
The lovely cottage garden is a haphazard mix of flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables. Make your way up the garden path to the front door and see for yourself why Beatrix loved this place. Bought in 1905 with proceeds from her first book, the Tale of Peter Rabbit, she used Hill Top itself and the surrounding countryside as inspiration for many of her subsequent books.
Pre-booking is required for your visit (applicable to all visitors, non-National Trust Members and National Trust members) Tickets are available via our online booking system where you choose a timed slot for arrival. You can pre-book tickets online up to a few minutes before each timeslot and up to two weeks in advance. Hill Top is a traditional Lake District cottage, and the car parking facilities are small with limited capacity so we cannot accommodate camper vans or motorhomes in the car park.
History
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Beatrix Potter
Discover how Beatrix Potter’s Victorian upbringing and fascination with animals culminated in a successful career as an author and illustrator and a passion for conservation.
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The stories behind the works of Beatrix Potter
Explore the stories behind the illustrations, sketches and letters of this legendary author, preserved by the National Trust at her former home in the Lake District.
The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio
The Royal Oak Foundation Conservation Studio helps care for a large number of objects from National Trust properties across the country. See The Conservation Studio on BBC Two’s Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
Literary podcasts
Discover the literary connections to some of the special places in our care
Support us
Volunteer with us
Search for live volunteering opportunities, or register your interest with Hill Top.