Approximately 10,000 years ago the Ice, which had covered the Lake District, started to retreat, as the global warming of its day marked the end of the last Ice Age. It was during this time that the valleys, mountains, lakes and tarns, that we now recognise as the Lake District, were being formed, transforming and shaping this dramatic landscape.
It is only from this point onwards that evidence of mans presence in the area. The land around Hawkshead would have been heavily wooded, with animals such as red deer and wild boar roaming the forests, and fish such as the Lakeland Char in abundance in the surrounding lakes and tarns, a perfect place for early settlement,
By the 9th Century there is evidence of Norse occupation, peaceful by nature, these farming people came over from Ireland to settle and farm. The area of Hawkshead on which the church of St. Michael’s and All Angels now sits, is thought to have been the site of the original settlement. Much of the mound appears to have been man-made with signs of a moat or ditch around the edges still partially evident today.
A Norse settler called Haukr, after whom the village became known, created one of the earliest settlements. Haukr (after the man) and Saetr (the Norse word for dwelling place or settlement),
The first known recording of this name was in 1200, when the village was called ‘Houksete’, and it is easy to see how the name has evolved into the name of Hawkshead of today.
Other local names also bear evidence from the Norse settlers, with ‘Ground’- meaning pasture or clearing, and Thwaite - meaning wood, along with ‘Fell’, a derivative of the Norse word for hill. The village of Sawrey – meaning muddy place with its first mention in 1336 as Sourer, Grizedale gets a mention in 1292 - meaning the valley of the pigs –obviously the place where the wild boar roamed, Satterthwaite or Saterthwayt in 1336, which means the summer pastures, and Erstwhile Water, the lake nearest to Hawkshead, was first mentioned in 1537 as the lake by the eastern clearing – Estwater now known as Esthwaite.
Over time most of the land in the area came into the ownership of Furness Abbey. The land was cultivated and farmed by lay brothers and administered by the monks of the Abbey. They would trade wool and farm sheep on the clearings and pastures, and as they grew more prosperous the village extended beyond the original settlement.
By the 16th century, the abolition of the monasteries meant that the village farmers were suddenly able to trade freely, and the wealth and fortunes of the village increased. The local manor farm just north of the village was turned into a courthouse, which is now owned by the national trust.
The church has a long-standing connection with the local Sandys family. In 1576 Edwin Sandys, who hailed from Esthwaite Hall, just two miles from Hawkshead village, became the Archbishop of York He was the man largely responsible for re- building the church and founding the Grammar School in 1585.
St. Michael’s has a dominating church tower with eight bells, and inside there is a separate private chapel for the Sandys Family, where the tombs of the parents of Edwin Sandys lie. The family later moved from Esthwaite Hall to Graythwaite Hall, and remain a large part of the village life and traditions today. Graythwaite Hall, which is situated south of Hawkshead, has magnificent gardens, which are open to the public throughout the summer months.
The Grammar School itself saw its last pupils in the early 20th century, but remains open daily from April to October, for visitors and scholars to view. In its time it became an important and well-respected school of learning for boys, many of who lived in lodgings with local families during their stay.
Two such pupils were the Wordsworth brothers from Cockermouth. William Wordsworth was schooled at Hawkshead from 1779, following the death of his mother the year before, until 1787. He lived with the Tyson family in the village, and Anne Tyson’s accounts for this time are on view at the school. William Wordworth’s name can be seen etched into the wooden desk in the schoolroom, where all the boys traditionally carved their names as a rite of passage.
Notably, one of the schoolmasters at the time that Wordsworth was a pupil was an Edward Christian, the older brother of the infamous Fletcher Christian of the Mutiny of the Bounty fame. It is thought that Wordsworth may have known the Christian family, as they too came from Cockermouth. In later years Wordsworth became fascinated in the tales of the mutiny, even helping his friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge with his epic poem “The rhyme of the ancient mariner” that refers to the adventures of Christian the mutineer.
In 1608 the town was awarded a market charter by James 1st. By this time Hawkshead had become the centre for wool trade for North Lancashire, and around 15-20 packhorses would make the weekly journey between Hawkshead and Kendal.
The main square is dominated by the Market House, which at the time had open archways on the ground level known as the “Shambles”, where cattle and sheep would be traded on market days. The Market House also housed a police cell should anyone need to be incarcerated following too much celebrating at the market.
An indication of the areas wealth and growth in population can be found in the establishment of a Quaker Chapel in 1688 at Colthouse, a small hamlet just outside the village, and later the opening of the Methodist Church in1862. Situated in a little square known as Berkeley Square, this is the oldest place of Methodist worship in the world.
Alongside the Methodist Church is Flag Street, which is so called as in 1892 flags were laid down to cover the watercourse that runs below the street. Up until then, the small stream would flow down this lane and through the centre of the village, past the side of the Queens Head Hotel, providing water for the households and a means of emptying away waste!
In addition to farming, many other trades flourished, with weavers, leather makers and tanning, builders, joiners and shoemakers, all making a living in and around the tiny streets and alleyways. Evidence of this can be seen on Leather, Rag and Putty Street, which was obviously a hive of industry.
Beatrix Potter who, although born in London, lived most of her life here in the Lake District, becoming a prodigious hill farmer and dedicated conservationist. She married a local solicitor, William Heelis, and the National Trust Beatrix Potter Gallery is now housed in his largely unchanged offices in the centre of Hawkshead. Many of her original illustrations are on view in the gallery. Some of Beatrix Potter’s most famous books were based in and around Hawkshead and at her home of Hill Top in Near Sawrey. Beatrix Potter is one of the best-loved children’s authors and her stories are timeless, appealing to all ages and nationalities. A visit to Hawkshead of would not be complete without a visit to Beatrix Potter’s home or the gallery.
Finally …… there is a bread, which was made up until recent times in Hawkshead, known as the Hawkshead Whig, nothing to do with Tories and Whigs, but originating from the Norse people, who settled the area. The Norse settlers prayed to their God – who was known to them as “Whig” or “Wigg”, and each Norse settlement would make special food offerings to the “Whig”. In many places these offerings varied according to what was available. Over the centuries the local churches adopted this custom, with the ‘Whigs’ being baked around Easter time as a celebration.
The Hawkshead Whig varied from others as it contained Caraway Seeds, which had been traded in exchange for wool at the weekly market. Today, apart from a few mentions in local recipe books, they have all but disappeared.
Nearly every building in Hawkshead has a story to tell or history to reveal, every step along the cobbled streets and alleyways leads to another chapter, we hope that by giving you a little potted history of our village that we have whetted your appetite to get to know it better.
Come with us and take a tour around the lake district village we call home, and enjoy some of the history that is on the doorstep
