Armitt Museum and Library

Over het museum

The Armitt began in 1912 as a subscription reference library, set up following the wishes of the historian and naturalist Mary Louisa Armitt, because Ambleside had no public library. Her will also asked that objects of local interest be collected so that a museum could one day show the life of Ambleside from the distant past to the present. The roots of the organisation go back further, to the Ambleside Book Society of 1828 and the Ambleside Ruskin Library of 1882, whose collections were later merged with the Armitt’s own.

The collection grew steadily. An important group of early books on the Lake District was left to the library, and in 1943, after the death of Beatrix Potter, her scientific watercolours of fungi were presented to the Armitt. The library also holds the archive of Charlotte Mason, a pioneer of education who ran her House of Education in Ambleside, and finds from the excavations of the Roman fort at Ambleside.

In more recent years the Armitt has built up a major collection of works by Kurt Schwitters, the avant-garde artist who spent the last years of his life in Ambleside. It is now housed in a purpose-built extension to the stable block of Scale How, the former home of Charlotte Mason, and it relies on admissions and donations as an independent charitable trust.

Hoogtepunten

• Watercolours of fungi by Beatrix Potter
• Paintings and works by Kurt Schwitters, who settled in Ambleside in 1945
• Archaeology from prehistoric times to Roman Ambleside, with more than 1,000 items
• Archive of the educator Charlotte Mason and the Armitt sisters
• Escape box experiences and a digital trail

Vaste collectie

• Kurt Schwitters – Works by the avant-garde artist who lived in Ambleside from 1945, including the paintings Silver Howe and Dr Johnston.
• Beatrix Potter – Her fungi watercolours and archaeological artefacts held in the Armitt’s collection.
• Archaeology – More than 1,000 objects from prehistoric times to Roman Ambleside in the first to fourth centuries.

Opgericht

1912

Beheerder

Independent charitable trust

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

The adult price is the same with or without Gift Aid, and an adult ticket gives free re-entry for the next 12 months. Friends of the Armitt and members of the Museums Association and Art Fund enter free. Tickets can be booked online or bought at reception.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom: geen informatie
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The museum has two floors with level access on each and is suitable for wheelchairs and buggies. A platform stairlift runs from the ground floor to the first floor and to the toilets. There is one accessible parking bay for Blue Badge holders to the right of the building.

Kinderen & gezin

• Kinderwagenvriendelijk
• Verschoonruimte

The museum welcomes families and tries to make its exhibitions, activities and events accessible to them; children under 16 enter free. Baby changing facilities are available.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

From the south, leave the M6 at junction 36 and follow signs to Ambleside along the A591; from the north, leave at junction 40, take the A66 and then the A591. The museum is signposted close to the university campus.

Service & horeca

Prints are sold through an online marketplace shop.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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