The Lakes Discovery Museum in Ambleside, Cumbria, United Kingdom | Museum

The Lakes Discovery Museum is a fascinating exhibition of Lakeland life and times. It is a treasure trove for Ambleside and presents an opportunity to explore the history of the area from Roman times to the twentieth century.

In particular, it proudly and lovingly recalls a remarkable time in the history of the Lake District in the United Kingdom, a century ago when some of the nation’s leading writers and artists including John Ruskin and Beatrix Potter lived nearby, drawing on local life as inspiration for their remarkable work The Lakes Discovery  Museum's display brings to life both their day to day lives and the way in which mutual acquaintanceship inspired their work, enriching an area already steeped in history and tradition.

Visitors to The Lakes Discovery Museum can listen to John Ruskin, view Beatrix Potter’s exquisite natural history water colours and take and interactive ‘bird’s-eye’ view of Lakeland through the magic of photographer Herbert Bell. New to the Museum are displays of work by German artist and pioneer of twentieth century modern art, Kurt Schwitters. Exiled from Germany during the Second World War, he came to live out his final years in Ambleside and created his most important surviving work, the ‘Merzbarn’ now in Newcastle.

Ambleside also nurtured and inspired the founder of the collection, Mary Louisa Armitt and two of the most advanced Victorian female thinkers of their time, Harriet Martineau and Charlotte Mason, whose lives are also celebrated in The Lakes Discovery  Museum display. Items of interest from other ages gone by include artefacts from the Roman Fort of Galava, which is situated at the head of Lake Windermere, just a mile or so from The Lakes Discovery Museum.

For the researcher, the library upstairs contains many letters and books endowed by Beatrix Potter and others, among them a unique collection of early guide books, and fascinating documents and ephemera reflecting the life of  Ambleside as a prosperous little market town during the past 400 years.

The Lakes Discovery Museum is situated close to the centre of Ambleside on Rydal Road just beyond the Bridge House opposite the main car park. Open daily throughout the year, 10am - 5pm, last admission 4.30pm.