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Some Places to Visit
UK
- Scotland
If
you are interested in Beatrix Potter as a natural historian and
artist,
you may like to visit some of these locations:
Few
people realise the importance and influence of Scotland on
Beatrix Potter's life. As a child Beatrix and her family enjoyed
long summer holidays in the Birnam area of Perthshire. Staying
in the countryside, away from the more formal life they led
in London, Beatrix and her young brother, Bertram, were able
to study the local wildlife. It was from Eastwood, Dunkeld,
in 1893 that Beatrix wrote the now famous picture letter to
Noel Moore which was later to become The Tale of Peter
Rabbit.
The following day she wrote a letter to Noel’s brother,
Eric, about a frog called Jeremy Fisher. People she had met
there on holiday inspired the loveable characters of Mrs. Tiggy-winkle
and Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
Beatrix Potter
is renowned not only as an author and illustrator, but also as
an eminent scientist. During her time in the Birnam area she met
and formed a special friendship with Charles McIntosh - the Perthshire
Naturalist - sharing a mutual interest in fungi and wildlife. |
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Yellow
Grisette (Amanita crocea)
and Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria),
painted by Beatrix Potter in September 1897
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The Birnam Institute, Exhibition Centre and Garden, Station Road, Birnam, Perthshire.
The Birnam Institute houses a wonderful exhibition telling the tale of this 'Fascinating Acquaintance', and the nearby Beatrix Potter Garden magically recreates the lovely countryside which so impressed the young Beatrix Potter and features flowers, fungi and characters associated with her relationship with the area. Footpaths lead past the houses of Mr. Tod and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, alongside the stream and pond where Mr. Jeremy Fisher lives and 'Peter Rabbit's burrow'.
www.birnaminstitute.com admin@birnaminstitute.com 01350 727 674
Dunkeld, Birnam, Inver and The Hermitage (National Trust for Scotland), Perthshire.
This is the area where Charles McIntosh lived and where Beatrix and he met when she was staying at Dalguise House. Maps and leaflets for self-guided walks are available from the Tourist Information Centre (01350 727688) and National Trust for Scotland (01350 728641) – both of these are in the centre of the village of Dunkeld.
Perth Museum and Art Gallery
The collection contains 25 of Beatrix Potter's watercolour studies of fungi as well as specimens, correspondence and memorabilia belonging to Charles McIntosh. Appointments are necessary to view items not on permanent display.
www.pkc.gov.uk museum@pkc.gov.uk 01738 632 488
UK
- Cumbria
Waterlilies
on Esthwaite Water, 1906
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The name of Beatrix Potter is firmly linked
with the English Lake District, and with Sawrey and Hawkshead
in particular, for it was in this beautiful part of England
that she wrote many of her children's books and here that
she spent the last thirty years of her life, having married
solicitor William Heelis in 1913.
If you are interested
in Beatrix Potter's life in the Lake District and the
illustrations
for the Tales, you may like to visit these sites in
the English Lake District:
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| Saturday 9 February - Thursday 21 March |
10.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop and garden are open every day 10.15 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
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| Saturday 22 March – Thursday 23 May |
10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop and garden are open every day 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
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| Saturday 25 May – Thursday 29 August |
10 a.m. – 5.30 p.m |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop and garden are open every day 9.45 a.m. – 5.45 p.m. |
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| Saturday 31 August – Sunday 3 November |
10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop and garden are open every day 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
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| Hill Top house closes on 3 November. |
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| The shop and garden remain open every day until 24 December |
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
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Beatrix Potter Gallery
Main Street, Hawkshead, Cumbria LA22 0NS
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrixpottergallery
Telephone: 015394 36355 Email: beatrixpottergallery@nationaltrust.org.uk
Beatrix Potter's original artwork on display in a 17th-century house
Step inside this charming old building to enjoy an exhibition of Beatrix Potter's original drawings and watercolours. A visit here is an ideal addition to a Hill Top visit providing as it does not just the chance to admire her delightful artwork but also the opportunity to learn more about Beatrix Potter's life outside the writing career which made her famous. Learn more about Beatrix as a farmer and conservationist and how her legacy helped to keep the Lake District the place we know today. This gallery building has an interesting history too, as previously it was the office of Beatrix Potter's husband William Heelis, and it is a rare opportunity to see inside one of Hawkshead's old buildings. |
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| Opening times 2013 |
| Saturday 9 February - Thursday 21 March |
10.30 a.m. - 3.30 p.m. |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop is open every day 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
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| Saturday 22 March – Thursday 23 May |
10.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop is open every day 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
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| Saturday 25 May – Thursday 5 September |
10.30 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. |
Every Day |
| The shop is open every day 10 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. |
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| Saturday 7 September – Sunday 3 November |
10.30 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
Closed Fridays |
| The shop is open every day |
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| The Beatrix Potter Gallery closes on 3 November. |
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| The shop remains open Wednesday – Sunday until 22 December |
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. |
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Wray Castle
Low Wray, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 0JA
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wraycastle
Telephone: 015394 41456 Email: wraycastle@nationaltrust.org.uk
Mock-Gothic castle sitting on the shores of Lake Windermere with turrets, towers and informal grounds, Wray Castle sits on Lake Windermere's quieter western side. It was built in the 1840s for just two people to live in and was the first Lake District holiday home for Beatrix Potter and her family in 1882.
You can explore the Castle inside and out in all weather. Find your way from the grand living spaces to narrow winding passages used by servants. Rooms are empty of the original furniture but photographs taken by Beatrix Potter’s father help you to imagine 19th-century life. The Castle also has its own boathouse and jetty. |
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| Children's activity rooms, including building cardboard castles, and family trails. Daily tours to discover the Castle's varied history. Garden trail includes the mulberry tree reputedly planted by Wordsworth. Make the journey part of the visit and take the boat from Ambleside or Brockhole
Dogs welcome in grounds on leads; assistance dogs only inside. Large print guide available. Cafe serving snacks.
The grounds are open every day dawn until dusk.
The Castle opens Saturday 23 March and is open every day until Sunday 3 November. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
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World of Beatrix Potter Attraction, Bowness on Windermere,
Cumbria LA23 3BX
An annually changing exhibition bringing Beatrix Potter's characters and settings to life, with videos telling her life story and featuring in particular her connections with the National Trust.
www.hop-skip-jump.com information@hop-skip-jump.com 0844 504 1233 |
The Armitt Collection,
Rydal Road, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 9BL
The library contains a large collection of Beatrix Potter's fungi, natural history and archaeological watercolours and drawings and there is an excellent new display on her life in the museum. The display includes a selection of the original natural history watercolours and opened to the public on 15 April 2011. It was part sponsored by a generous grant from The Beatrix Potter Society. Appointments are necessary to view items not on permanent display.
www.armitt.com (website is being re-developed) info@armitt.com 015394 31212 |
UK
- London and the South
V & A
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
A large collection of Beatrix Potter's watercolours (including childhood sketchbooks), photographs and letters.
Appointments are necessary to view the many items not on public display. Contact the Frederick Warne Curator.
www.nal.vam.ac.uk and www.vam.ac.uk 0207 608 0281 x 212
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House of the Tailor of Gloucester, 9 College Court, Gloucester, GL1 2NJ
The historic building, on which Beatrix Potter based her illustration of the Tailor's house, is situated close to Gloucester Cathedral and was painted by her when she visited the city. She used her illustrations together with a local folk tale (about a tailor who tried to finish a magnificent waistcoat for the Mayor's wedding one Christmas Day) as the basis for the third of her Peter Rabbit books, The Tailor of Gloucester, published in 1903. Beatrix Potter later acknowledged this story as her personal favourite.
www.tailor-of-gloucester.org.uk 01452 422856 |
Melford Hall, Long Melford, Suffolk CO10 9AA
One of East Anglia’s most celebrated Elizabethan houses, now in the care of The National Trust, it is little changed externally since 1578 and has an original paneled banqueting hall. It has been the home of the Hyde Parker family since 1786 and Beatrix Potter visited on several occasions and painted many fine scenes there. There is a Regency library, as well as Victorian bedrooms and good collections of furniture and porcelain and a small collection of Beatrix Potter memorabilia. The garden contains some spectacular specimen trees and a charming banqueting house, and there is an attractive walk through the park.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk melford@nationaltrust.org.uk 01787 376395, 01787 379228
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United States
of America
Gwaenynog,
Denbighshire
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Free Library of Philadelphia, Rare Book Department
If you are in the United States of America, you might like to start by visiting the Free Library of Philadelphia, where there is, in the Rare Book Department, a good collection of original Beatrix Potter drawings and watercolours and also some letters, first editions, Peter Rabbit piracies and ephemera and a reference section. There is not always an extensive display of Beatrix Potter items on public view, so contact the library for an appointment.
Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia PA 19104
www.freelibrary.org 215-686-5322 |
Princeton University Library, New Jersey, Cotsen Children’s Library
An extensive collection of books, letters, manuscripts and artwork by Beatrix Potter, the author of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and other books adored by generations of children, was presented to Princeton by Lloyd E Cotsen. It is part of a collection of close to 600 items has been placed on deposit by Mr Cotsen, a member of Princeton’s class of 1950 and a longtime collector of children’s literature. Cotsen donated the funds to create the children’s library, which opened in Firestone in 1997.
In an essay for the collection’s lavishly illustrated catalogue, Judy Taylor, an expert on Potter, wrote, ‘There are many people in many places who now collect her work, but Lloyd Cotsen’s Beatrix Potter Collection ranks as probably the best private assemblage outside any major public museum or library.’ Included in the collection are first editions of what are known as Potter’s ‘little books’, letters to friends and family, and photographs taken by Potter as well as an album of family photos.
Included is a letter Potter wrote and illustrated that tells the story of a dog named Nip who loved sweets. The letter, which Potter sent to her fiancé’s niece in 1906, is filled with charming sketches of Nip begging passers-by for a penny, which he takes to the baker’s shop to buy himself some chocolate.
Princeton University Library, One Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
www.library.princeton.edu 609.258.1470
Cotsen Children’s Library www.princeton.edu/cotsen |
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