Hill Top is a 17th-century house in

Near Sawrey Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in the Furness area of Cumbria, England. They are located in the Lake District between the village of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere. The two lie on the B5285, which runs from Hawk ...

near

Hawkshead Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, which attracts tourists to the South Lakeland area. The parish includes the hamlets of Hawkshead Hill, to the north west, and Outgate, a similar distance north. Hawkshead contains o ...

, in the English

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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. ...

. It is an example of Lakeland

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

with random stone walls and slate roof. The house was once the home of children's author and illustrator

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 ...

who left it to 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 ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. It is open to the public as a

writer's house museum Writers' homes (sometimes writer's, author's or literary houses) are locations where writers lived. Frequently, these homes are preserved as historic house museums and literary tourism destinations, called writer's home museums, especially when t ...

, shown as Beatrix Potter herself would have known it. The Hill Top garden is of interest, being maintained in a style in keeping with Potter's illustrations.

Background

Hill Top once belonged to Beatrix Potter, the children's author and illustrator known for a series of small format books, especially the character

Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subs ...

. Potter bought the house and its working farm in 1905 as her home away from London and her artistic retreat. She left the house to the

upon her death in 1943. The house, farm and nearby villages feature in Potter's books, ''

The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan ''The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan'' (originally, ''The Pie and the Patty-Pan'') is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1905. It tells of a cat called Ribby and a ...

'', ''

The Tale of Tom Kitten ''The Tale of Tom Kitten'' is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them. Tabitha Twitchit, a cat, invites ...

'', ''

The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck ''The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1908. Potter composed the book at Hill Top, a working farm in the Lake District sh ...

'' and ''

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding ''The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1908 as ''The Roly-Poly Pudding''. In 1926, it was re-published as '' ...

''. The farm was managed by John Cannon. The wing on the left was built by Potter for Cannon and his family in 1906. ''The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck'' was dedicated to his children, Ralph and Betsy, who appear in the illustrations, as does their mother.

Points of interest

Entrance hall

The entrance hall or kitchen, retains its original stone-flagged floor. The range seen in many of her illustrations was removed but replaced with an identical one in 1983. The wallpaper was reproduced in 1987 from that hung by Potter in 1906 and covers the walls and ceiling. The longcase clock dated ca. 1785, the Chippendale-style chairs, the Georgian-style dresser, a 17th-century oak press cupboard and other furnishings are depicted in some of Potter's illustrations. You can also see the remains of the historic spiral staircase in the cupboard to the right of the fireplace.

Parlour

The

parlour A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

is distinguished by an Adam style chimneypiece installed by Potter. Furniture of the early 19th century dominates the room and 18th century English and Chinese porcelains are displayed in a hanging wall cupboard. Potter's

1902 coronation The coronation of Edward VII and his wife, Alexandra, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 9 August 1902. Originally scheduled for 2 ...

teapot displayed in the cupboard was Ribby's in ''

''.

Staircase and landing

The staircase and landing are familiar to the readers of Potter's books. The rail and banisters are probably 18th century. The walnut

longcase clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...

was made by Schofield's of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

. Other works of art decorate the area. The carpets were woven to match those in ''

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers ''The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in October 1908 as ''The Roly-Poly Pudding''. In 1926, it was re-published as '' ...

''.

The New Room

Called the new room as it was an extension added by Beatrix at the same time as she built the adjoining house. Beatrix referred to it as the Library. It contains five large paintings by her brother Walter Bertram Potter. The single window looks out over the village of

, a scene Beatrix drew for The Tale of Samuel Whiskers

The Sitting Room

Originally a farmhouse bedroom, Beatrix used this upstairs space to entertain. The room includes a box piano by Muzio Clementi and Co.

The Treasure Room

The smallest room in the house shows off the original oak floors. One floorboard has been cut shorter than the others, which possibly inspired the events in ''The Tale of Samuel Whiskers''. Notable items in the room include the Dolls House which contains the ham depicted in

The Tale of Two Bad Mice ''The Tale of Two Bad Mice'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904. Potter took inspiration for the tale from two mice caught in a cage-trap in her cousin's home a ...

and a display cabinet featuring miniature bronzes of Beatrix's characters.

Bedroom

The only bedroom in the house contains an ornate four poster bed dating from the mid-1600s. Beatrix's husband William Heelis carved their initials in the fireplace surround.

Layout of the House

The house contains three rooms downstairs, the Entrance Hall, Parlour and Scullery. Four rooms upstairs, Sitting Room, Treasure Room, Bedroom and New Room. All of these rooms can be entered by visitors. There are additional rooms not on the visitor route, including a cellar, a landing cupboard and a washroom, which did not contain plumbing, but was simply a space to wash using a bowl of water.

Garden

'' features the Hill Top garden. Barrow and Peas - geograph

There is a vegetable garden, but Mr McGregor's vegetables in ''

The Tale of Peter Rabbit ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he gets into, and is chased around, the garden of Mr. McGregor. He escapes and returns ...

'' were painted at a garden called

Lingholm Lingholm is a country house just outside Portinscale in Cumbria, England. History The house was built in 1871–1875 for Lt-Col James Fenton Greenall (1834–1899), of the Greenall brewing family, Commanding Officer of the 9th Lancashire Rifl ...

as Potter had not yet acquired Hill Top.

Replicas

Hill Top is a frequent destination of Japanese visitors to the UK. In 2007 a replica of Hill Top was built in a children's zoo near the grounds of Daito Bunka University in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan.

Related properties

The National Trust also displays material related to Beatrix Potter at the

Beatrix Potter Gallery The Beatrix Potter Gallery is a gallery run by the National Trust in a 17th-century stone-built house in Hawkshead, Cumbria, England. It is dedicated to presenting original book illustrations by children's author Beatrix Potter. On display ar ...

at Hawkshead.

References

;Footnotes ;Works cited *

External links

The National Trust's Hill Top webpage
{{Beatrix Potter Houses completed in the 17th century Beatrix Potter Biographical museums in Cumbria Historic house museums in Cumbria Country houses in Cumbria Farms in Cumbria Gardens in Cumbria Museums in Cumbria National Trust properties in the Lake District Grade II* listed houses in Cumbria Literary museums in England Women's museums in the United Kingdom