Lady of the Lakes: The Legacy
of Beatrix Potter

Raised in London, the noted authoress and artist Beatrix Potter was captivated by England’s Lake District during her childhood holidays spent among the charming hamlets and misty moors. As a girl, she collected small animals during these trips and gently tamed them into pets. The domesticated creatures provided inspiration and companionship during her solitary Victorian childhood as she developed her story-writing and artistic talents. When Beatrix grew into adulthood, these tales and illustrations were published, and the now-cherished books became her livelihood. She continued to use many of the landscapes and villages of the Lake District as the backdrops for her woodland animal characters.

In addition to her literary fame, Beatrix was well known for her dedication to farming and the community. She used the profits from her first book to buy Hill Top, a seventeenth-century cottage and garden in the hamlet of Near Sawrey, in 1905. Although still living in London, the authoress escaped to the Lake District as often as possible, immersing herself in bucolic farm life and enjoying the waterside lifestyle. Beatrix continued her creative endeavors, writing and illustrating books about the animals she so loved. Her affinity for agriculture and livestock served as both a means of living and a muse, as she painted her flock of sheep and the naughty rabbits that came to nibble at her garden’s edge.

Following the death of her first fiancé, publisher Norman Warne, Beatrix relocated to the Lake District, working year-round at Hill Top and later marrying William Heelis, a local solicitor who advised her in purchasing cottages and land parcels within the area. Mrs. Heelis, as she was known locally, became an ardent conservationist and a Herdwick sheep farmer. Her agrarian pursuits developed into award-winning farming practices and a devout desire to preserve the rural way of life. Utilizing her intellect and passion, she grew to become an astute businesswoman and inspirational farmer.

With an inheritance from her family and the profits from her books, she acquired farms and land throughout the Cumbrian region. A long-standing friendship with Canon Rawnsley, one of the founding members of the British National Trust, led Beatrix to leave fourteen farms and more than 4,000 acres of land to the institution upon her death, thus ensuring the preservation of a way of life and the beauty of her beloved lakeside landscape for generations to come.