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IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS, THE MUSEUM WILL REMAIN CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Wordsworth attended Hawkshead Grammar School from age 9 to 16. The School was started in 1585 to educate the sons of Protestant families after the Reformation. It taught Latin and Greek grammar, arithmetic, geometry, sciences, modern history and the classics with the aim of preparing boys for entrance to Cambridge. Lessons were in Latin and Greek and attendance at the church, neighbouring the school, was compulsory. Boys boarded with local families in and around Hawkshead. Wordsworth and his brothers stayed in Colthouse, about half a mile away along the shore of Esthwaite Water. Wordsworth liked to walk around the lake and roam the fields before and after school, and it is easy to imagine that today as both the museum and the village of Hawkshead look much as they did in Wordsworth’s day.
A curator is available to show visitors around and tours are held on the hour. Visitors can see the main school room on the ground floor, which still contains the wooden benches the boys sat on (and carved with their pocket knives). There is the headmaster’s study on the stairs and an upstairs room displaying further collections of historic artefacts, some of which date from the sixteenth century. The Museum also contains the old school library of rare books, which Wordsworth donated to, and which the Governors are working towards making available for public viewing.
The museum is on two floors, disabled access is possible to the ground floor only.
Group tours can be booked through the curator at hgsfcurator@gmail.com or 015394-36674.
Season (1 Apr 2021 - 31 Oct 2021) | ||
---|---|---|
Day | Times | |
Monday - Saturday | 10:00 | - 13:00 |
Sunday | Closed |
Season (1 Apr 2021 - 31 Oct 2021) | ||
---|---|---|
Day | Times | |
Monday - Saturday | 14:00 | - 17:00 |
Sunday | Closed |
* Guided tours are held on the hour at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm.
Ticket Type | Ticket Tariff |
---|---|
Adult | £2.50 per adult |
Adult | £2.50 per adult |
For 2020: standard entry will be £2.50. Group rate per person will be
£2.00. Tour guides and teachers accompanying groups visit for free.
Approaching Hawkshead from the north on the B5285, follow the road around the edge of the village to the main carpark. The Museum is 50 metres from the carpark, with the entrance to the grounds across from the main bus-stop. The nearest railway station is Windermere, which is 9 miles away.
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