Exhibitions at Allan Bank
Allan Bank is a place where radical ideas and creativity flourish in a beautiful setting. You’ll find an ongoing exhibition on the ground floor exploring how William Wordsworth influenced land conservation and tourism in the Lake District. Upstairs there are two gallery spaces with a changing programme of art exhibitions.
Wordsworth the Influencer
Ongoing, Gallery 1
This exhibition looks at how William Wordsworth helped shape the Lake District we know today. It features 19th century photography displayed on large scale lightboxes of significant landscapes he helped protect including Ullswater and Grasmere, and delves into his relationship with industrial pioneer John Marshall and his family. Wordsworth wrote his radical Guide to the Lakes while at Allan Bank and a First Edition of the travel guide is on display as well as examples of Joseph Wilkinson’s illustrations and other key guides.
Women In Print
9 March - 1 July 2026, Gallery 3
A new collection of original works by 11 artists exploring the power and possibilities of contemporary printmaking. Featuring leading artists including 2017 Turner Prize winner Lubaina Himid, alongside Helen Cammock, Emily Speed and Heather Peak.
Each year, four artists are invited to take part in a residency with Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at the University of Lancashire. Inspired by Gwyneth Alban Davis’ spirit of community, resilience and creativity, the programme supports women artists at all stages of their careers to develop new ideas using specialist printmaking facilities.
Artists on display include:
Helen Cammock
Rebecca Chesney
Anna Júlía Friðbjörnsdottir
Emma Gregory
Lubaina Himid
Sana Obaid
Alicia Paz
Heather Peak
Emily Speed
Jenny Steele
Artist A & Artist B
The exhibition is part of a two year programme partnership with Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at University of Lancashire.
Related event
- Saturday 27 June The Big Print Picnic
Notes of Rest
4 April – 5 August 2026, Coleridge's Bedroom
Have you ever spoken to your plants? What might they whisper back about time, patience, or the effort of growing?
Charcoal drawings and etchings of plants grown on the artist's balcony examine the themes of growth, fragility, care and endurance. Through them, Karen Davies traces the rhythms of plant life and reflects on how these patterns mirror her own experiences of health and recovery.
These works sit alongside Notes to Plants, a series of handwritten Post-its that evolved from Notes to Self, first made in a bedroom during the pandemic. Readdressed to plants rather than to herself, the messages soften: they offer gentleness instead of instruction, patience instead of pressure, small reminders to be tender, both inwardly and outwardly.
Together, the pieces weave multiple strands of the artist’s practice into a quiet conversation about rest, attention, and the care that shapes every act of making.
The exhibition is part of a two year programme partnership with Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at University of Lancashire.
(In)tangible
7 July - 20 December 2026, Gallery 3
Experience Tracy Hill’s site-specific art installation uncovering the vital role of fungi and lichen in shaping our environment and understanding of climate change.
The exhibition is part of a two year programme partnership with Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at University of Lancashire.
Related events
- Tuesday 7 July Artist talk and guided lichens walk
- Wednesday 30 September Guided lichens walk with expert Pete Martin
The Caravan Press
Until 20 December 2026, Gallery 2
This exhibition reveals the fascinating life and print archive of Gwyneth Alban Davis, who ran a one-woman printing business whilst living in a caravan on the Langdale Estate in the 1940s. See evocative personal photos on large lightboxes, framed prints created on her original blocks hung on the wall and her jardine printing press. Her story is one of perseverance, creativity and hope in the harsh post war period.
Gwyneth's two-week holiday in Ambleside in 1946 turned into a four and a half year stay, where she found a vibrant community of artists, including Kurt Schwitters and Hilde Goldschmidt. The Langdale Estate, a former gunpowder works converted into a wooded holiday camp, had become a bohemian retreat during the war. Between 1947 and 1950, Gwyneth printed stationary, business and Christmas cards for hotels, shops and houses in the Lake District; she illustrated a local travel book and printed ‘The Story of the Merz Barn,’ a booklet promoting Schwitters’ final artwork, a few months after his death.
The exhibition is co-curated by Tracy Hill and Heather Mullender-Ross and is part of a two year programme partnership with Artlab Contemporary Print Studios at University of Lancashire.
Art for families
- Look through the stereographs at vintage photos of the Lake District as part of the Wordsworth the Influencer display in gallery 1.
- Try your hand a making your own print using replicas of Gwyneth Alban Davis printing blocks. Can you find the matching print on display on the wall?
- Head to the The Art Caravan where you’ll find playful objects to make bird sounds with, printing blocks, pencils and paper.
- For more ideas, have a look at our things to do at Allan Bank article.
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Things to do at Allan Bank and Grasmere
With rugged 19th century woodland grounds, formal lawns, exhibitions and surrounding countryside and lakes to explore, there’s plenty to see and do at Allan Bank and Grasmere.
Walking in Grasmere
From relaxing lakeshore strolls to fell-top expeditions, when it comes to walking you’re spoilt for choice here in Grasmere. Here are some popular walks to get you started.
