The Armitt : Museum, Gallery, Library

04/06/2026

The Armitt is once again opening its doors for Heritage Open Days. This year, you can explore our temporary exhibitions for free on Friday 18 September, including:

An A-Z of Beatrix Potter
Club Culture Cumbria
Modern-day Martineau

We'll also have a special limited-time mini-exhibition focused on the theme of "Everyday Histories". Come and view some of the fascinating stories about Ambleside and how it's changed into the town we know and love today.

Heritage Open Days 2026: 11-20 September

02/06/2026

It's , and we want to take a moment to thank our amazing volunteer team for all the hard work they put in.

You may have met many of our volunteers working in our front of house, welcoming folks to the museum and ensuring that we can keep our doors open across the year.

Behind the scenes, our volunteer team are also crucial in supporting digitising, auditing and researching our collections and upcoming exhibitions.

Over thousands of volunteer hours, our dedicated team works tirelessly to assist with the smooth running of the museum.

During the summer we will also be running our volunteer-led heritage walking tours around Ambleside. A number of individuals have had a hand in developing this and ensuring that it is a well-researched, informative walk, exploring the industry and history of the area.

The first heritage walk runs tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm from the museum, so why not pop along and see first hand how lucky we are to have such a talented team of volunteers at The Armitt?!

Volunteers' Week

01/06/2026

at The Armitt this June.

Firstly, on the 5th, we have a guided workshop with writer Ann Grant, pulling on themes from our Club Culture Cumbria exhibition.

On the 6th, we have an online with Dr Phillip Palmer of the Morgan Library, forming the second part of our curator talk series spotlighting some of the Beatrix Potter collections featured in our 2026 exhibition.

On the 30th, we have our monthly . Join Stephe Cove for A Short History of Walking the Fells.

Finally, as we arrive into summer, we are once again running our Heritage Walks around Ambleside. Join one of our volunteer-led walks around town and uncover the development of Ambleside over the years.

28/05/2026

June Talk Series - Stephe Cove
- £6.00
- 30th June - 2pm
- https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GGBO

About the talk:
A Short History of Walking the Fells: From the Langdale Axe Factory to the Present Day with Stephe Cove.

Eight thousand years ago, we know that Stone Age man was familiar with the fells and had the skills to pick out the sites that provided stone for making axes. What would they make of today's fell walkers in brightly coloured clothing who may well have been equipped with the help of Internet shopping?

Early humans used the fells to provide everything needed for existence. Thousand of years later, it was the commercial potential that drove exploitation to discover the resources often deep below the surface. For modern folk, it's the excitement and challenge that brings them in flocks to crowd like daffodils in the valleys, the summits and the shops of Lakeland.

About the speaker:
Stephe has lived in Millom for over fifty years, walking and cycling in the Lakes. For most of that time, he has been involved in Mountain Rescue; no longer operational but working as a fundraiser for a new base in Foxfield. The image you see shows the ongoing progress of the new base.

27/05/2026

Do you think you know Ambleside?

You may have walked the narrow pavements of Ambleside, exploring the various cafes, gift outlets and outdoor shops, but did you know that behind the main streets, you can find a fascinating history of the older town? Covering the story of Ambleside’s mills and industry, the markets and the people, we aim to give you an insight into our beautiful town at the centre of the Lake District.

Join us on one of our Heritage Walking Tours of Ambleside, created by our local Armitt volunteers and with inspiration and thanks from the Heritage Trail leaflet produced by the Ambleside Civic Trust.

- Heritage Walks leave from The Armitt on Wednesday afternoons at 2:30 pm (excluding September 9th).
- The full walk takes around 1hr 15min in total.
- Tickets are £12 per person and include entry to the museum

Our first is a week today (Wednesday 3rd June), please check our booking link to ensure availability - https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GEYY

21/05/2026

We are delighted to re-share the news that Co-Curator of 'An A-Z of Beatrix Potter's Dr Penny Bradshaw has been longlisted for the Lakeland Book of the Year Awards.

Penny's book takes a fresh perspective on the life, legacy and world of Beatrix Potter, these exciting new perspectives being built upon in the exhibition co-curated here at The Armitt. The exhibition showcases the museum's rich collection of mycological illustrations alongside a varied collection of objects from collections across the globe.

Coincidentally, Dr Penny Bradshaw is giving a talk this Friday, making it the perfect chance to drop into the museum, meet the longlisted author and explore Beatrix Potter's fascination with fungi in the home of the largest collection of her fungi illustrations.

Beatrix Potter's 'myriads of fairy fungi - a talk by Dr. Penny Bradhshaw - can be booked through the link below:
https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GBCU

18/05/2026

It's been today and our exhibitions this year are covering all corners of the globe.

With Beatrix Potter's legacy spanning Europe, Asia, the America's and further, we're thrilled to be exhibiting works from international partners' collections as well as private individuals and The Armitt's own watercolours in "An A-Z of Beatrix Potter" - Victoria and Albert Museum, Penguin Random House, Royal Ballet And Opera, The Beatrix Potter Society.

Then we're examining the life of Harriet Martineau - sociologist, campaigner and writer - who travelled overseas experiencing different places and meeting new people, championing those with disabilities and seeking equality. We compare people today who are doing similar 200 years later in "Modern-day Martineau" - Wordsworth Grasmere, British Deaf Association, Cumbria Deaf Association.

Lastly, we look across our county of Cumbria spotlighting those hidden or underrepresented spaces of social and working men's clubs in "Club Culture Cumbria" through the work of Colin Potsig - Kirkgate Arts & Heritage, The Ruskin Museum.

So, The Armitt may be a small, local museum, but we find connections far and wide as well as close to home. We hope you'll choose to visit us this year, along with our supporters and contributors shown here, because when you do, you're helping arts and culture stay alive!

17/05/2026

The Armitt is delighted to have been awarded a share in the latest round of the Museum Estate and Development fund (MEND) to support essential improvements to our heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. We need to match 5% of the total amount ourselves, meaning we are on a mission to raise £13,000.


Anything you give will allow visitors to continue to enjoy our collection of over 70,000 Lake District objects, including Beatrix Potter’s fungi watercolours, paintings by the avant-garde artist Kurt Schwitters, and archaeology from the Ambleside Roman Fort.


We hope you’ll consider giving a donation today to help us reach our goal - https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=89SM4N666NJDE

13/05/2026

For our second Curator Talk, we are joined by Dr Philip Palmer, curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts at The Morgan Library & Museum

Following the well-attended launch of our first , Dr Palmer will continue this exciting look at the work taken to preserve Beatrix Potter's unique history from the perspective of the Morgan. One of the crown jewels of this collection is a group of twelve picture letters written by Beatrix Potter between 1892 and 1900.

Philip Palmer will speak about this extraordinary group of illustrated letters, recently published in facsimile, as well as his work on the 2024 exhibition Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature. Curated by the V&A and the National Trust and drawing extensively on holdings at The Armitt, this exhibition proved to be one of the most popular Morgan shows in recent memory; Philip will talk about the process of adapting and designing this exhibition for the Morgan. His talk will conclude with a recent acquisition of an illustrated letter Beatrix Potter wrote to a child.

This is a talk and tickets can be found through the link below:
- https://www.trybooking.com/uk/GFZK
- Saturday 6th June
- £5.00 per ticket

12/05/2026

Summer hours at The Armitt mean early starts for our staff here at the museum, and although an early start isn't everyone's cup of tea, on a morning like this, it's made all the more worthwhile!

If you are in this Summer, why not get out of the busy town centre and explore local history through our three exhibitions, situated just past the iconic set back on Rydal Road.

The Armitt is open 10-5 between Tuesday and Saturday this Summer.