Where the visitors came from
Today’s tourism industry began in the late eighteenth century, when the first visitors arrived — encouraged by the area’s close connections with the writers and artists who were themselves drawn by its scenery. Much of what they came for is still open.
Museums and historic houses
- Keswick Museum and Art Gallery
Overlooking Fitz Park, with exhibitions, events and displays telling the story of Keswick’s landscape, history and culture.
See attractionsIn town
- Derwent Pencil Museum
The home of the first pencil. The history of pencil making, through displays and carefully restored machinery.
See attractionsIn town
- Mirehouse
A beautiful family-run historic house just outside Keswick, with strong literary connections.
See attractionsJust outside town
- Wordsworth House and Gardens
William Wordsworth’s childhood home in nearby Cockermouth, kept as it was in the 1770s.
See attractionsCockermouth
- Honister Slate Mine
The history of slate mining, at the head of the pass between Borrowdale and Buttermere. Working records here go back to 1643.
See attractionsOver the pass
Theatre by the Lake
Keswick’s theatre sits on the shore of Derwentwater, in one of the most picturesque locations in the country. It opened in 1999, replacing the old Blue Box touring theatre, and was made possible by an Arts Council Lottery Fund grant.
The resident professional company offers a summer season of plays, a Christmas show and an Easter production, and the theatre also hosts visiting drama, music, dance, talks, comedy and film. What’s on has the current programme.
The Alhambra
Keswick’s century-old cinema screens current films every night of the week in digital quality, along with the best of the world’s theatre, ballet and opera relayed live by satellite.
A tradition of arts and crafts
With rugged mountains, sparkling lakes and some of the most spectacular landscapes in the country, it is no wonder that artists — Turner and Constable among them — have sought for centuries to capture the changing moods of the North Lakes.
Keswick was the home of the School of Industrial Arts for nearly a century, set up by Canon Rawnsley, a good friend of John Ruskin, whose art and writing laid the foundation of the Arts and Crafts movement.
Many artists and makers live and work in the area today, producing contemporary and traditional pieces — oil paintings and watercolours, sculpture, jewellery and ceramics — and galleries in Keswick, Cockermouth and the surrounding villages show both local and international work. Individual galleries are listed in the shopping section.