Hawkshead Grammar School Museum

About

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). 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.

While social distancing restrictions remain in place, entry numbers will be limited, online pre-booking system coming soon. Please check our website for up-to-date opening times and entry requirements.

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.