Armitt Library on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Armitt Museum, also known as the Armitt Museum and Library, is an independent museum and library, founded in
The library was founded by a bequest of Mary Louisa Armitt in order that the intellectual activity of Ambleside could be celebrated. The roots of the organisation go back to the Ambleside Book Society which was founded in 1828 and which formed part of the library.Armitt Library
, independentlibraries.co.uk, retrieved 11 November 2015 On 8 November 1912 the library opened and Hardwicke Rawnsley who was to co-found the
::As in some inland solitude a shell
:::Still gently whispers of its home, the deep,
::So from the world of being beyond all sleep
:::Where those two happy sister spirits dwell...
The "two happy sister spirits" were Mary Louisa Armitt who died the year before and her sister Sophia Armitt.Canon Rawsley
Armitt Museum, Retrieved 12 November 2015
BBC, retrieved 14 July 2014 a German refugee artist who lived and died in Ambleside. The library of over 11,000 books covers the local and natural history of the Ambleside area and the wider
The Armitt Museum, retrieved 13 July 2014 Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley and
Armitt website
{{Authority control 1909 establishments in England Libraries in Cumbria Art museums and galleries in Cumbria Local museums in Cumbria Museums established in 1909 Charities based in England Library buildings completed in 1997 Beatrix Potter Ambleside
The Armitt Museum, also known as the Armitt Museum and Library, is an independent museum and library, founded in Ambleside
Ambleside is a town and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lakes, in Cumbria, in North West England.
Historically in Westmorland, it marks the head (and sits on the east side of the northern headwater) of Windermere, England's lar ...
in Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...
by Mary Louisa Armitt in 1909. It is a registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a ch ...
under English law.
History
The library was founded by a bequest of Mary Louisa Armitt in order that the intellectual activity of Ambleside could be celebrated. The roots of the organisation go back to the Ambleside Book Society which was founded in 1828 and which formed part of the library.Armitt Library, independentlibraries.co.uk, retrieved 11 November 2015 On 8 November 1912 the library opened and Hardwicke Rawnsley who was to co-found the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
wrote a poem in celebration. The poem starts:
Armitt Museum, Retrieved 12 November 2015
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...
donated books and paintings in her lifetime, and on her death bequeathed her portfolios of natural history watercolours and her personal copies of her "little books". These are on permanent display in an exhibition ''Beatrix Potter: Image and Reality''.
The current building was constructed in 1997 from slate and stone on the land belonging to St Martin's College
St Martin's College was a British higher education college with campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle, as well as sites in Whitehaven, Barrow and London. It provided undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the arts, humanities, b ...
(formerly Charlotte Mason College).
The Armitt also houses a collection of works by Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany.
Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, paint ...
,Armitt Library collection of oil paintingsBBC, retrieved 14 July 2014 a German refugee artist who lived and died in Ambleside. The library of over 11,000 books covers the local and natural history of the Ambleside area and the wider
Lake District
The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...
. It is an important resource for information on notable people connected with the area, including Mary Louisa Armitt, William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
, Harriet Martineau
Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretic ...
, John Ruskin
John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...
, Frederic Yates
Frederic Yates (1854–1919) was an English painter. He painted landscapes and portraits including President Woodrow Wilson and Sanford Ballard Dole, the only president of Hawaii. He settled in the Lake District.
Life
Frederic Keeping was ...
,Frederick YatesThe Armitt Museum, retrieved 13 July 2014 Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley and
Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany.
Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, paint ...
.
See also
*List of museums in Cumbria
This list of museums in Cumbria, England contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organizations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artisti ...
References
External links
Armitt website
{{Authority control 1909 establishments in England Libraries in Cumbria Art museums and galleries in Cumbria Local museums in Cumbria Museums established in 1909 Charities based in England Library buildings completed in 1997 Beatrix Potter Ambleside