An English Cottage Garden
Beatrix Potter's Hill Top Farm | Near Sawrey | Lake District
Hill Top, the beloved home of Beatrix Potter, is nestled in the picturesque village of Near Sawrey in the Lake District. The farmhouse and garden offer a glimpse into the world of the famous author of Peter Rabbit. One of Hill Top’s most captivating features is the cottage garden, which reflects Potter’s deep connection to nature and the countryside that inspired her stories.
Beatrix Potter purchased Hill Top in 1905 with the proceeds of her first little book, Peter Rabbit, and one of the first things she did was plant a garden. This garden, though modest in size, is a beautiful example of a traditional cottage garden. With its informal layout and a mix of flowers, herbs, fruit and vegetables the garden was a great inspiration to Beatrix and it featured in several illustrations for her little books.
Entering Hill Top you can take in the beautiful views of the garden as you walk along the long garden path through the informally planted flower beds towards the house. Beatrix loved the view up the garden path, she included it in two of her books: The Tale of Tom Kitten and The Tale of Pigling Bland. Straight in front of the house, you can step through a bright green gate into the kitchen garden with its famous rhubarb patch and where carrots, onions, cabbage and lettuce grow.
‘The flowers love the house, they try to come in...but nothing more sweet than the old pink cabbage rose that peeps in at the small paned windows.’
Beatrix Potter, Hill Top, 1930
Over 30 years ago, there wasn’t much left of the original garden Beatrix Potter had created. All that was left were the old apple tree in the orchard and a wisteria planted by Beatrix Potter; the rest of the garden was lost over time and left unattended. Fortunately, the National Trust had a large collection of letters, photos, diary entries and, of course, drawings by Beatrix Potter to restore the garden to how it must have looked in Beatrix’s time.
