Historic house · near Hawkshead · Cumbria

Hill Top

Hill Top is a writer's house museum in Hawkshead, Cumbria. It is protected as a Grade II* listed building. Within 15 km there are 42 more places to visit, starting with Wray Castle (5.5 km).

Photo: Hill Top, Chris Brown (CC BY 2.0)

Where

2.6 km

southeast of Hawkshead

Run by

National Trust

a national heritage body

How well known

Top 7%

#525 of 8,556 places we list

Warmest months

Jul–Aug

highs of 18–18°C

In brief

Historic house near Hawkshead

One of the best-known places to visit in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

#525 of the 8,556 museums, castles, gardens and other attractions we list, by how widely it is covered (10 Wikipedias). About ↓

Just outside Hawkshead

Hill Top is 2.6 km southeast of Hawkshead. Towns near it ↓

Cared for by the National Trust

One of the places the National Trust looks after; members usually get in free. About ↓

Grade II* listed building

On the official list of protected heritage; Hawkshead has 41 listed buildings in all, on its History page. About ↓

Written from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, the ONS built-up areas and Met Office 1991–2020 averages.

When to go

How the seasons run

The warm months in Hawkshead are July and August, with 18°C highs.

Jan6° / 1°228 mm

Feb6° / 1°201 mm

Mar8° / 1°176 mm

Apr11° / 3°112 mm

May14° / 6°116 mm

Jun17° / 9°121 mm

Jul18° / 10°145 mm

Aug18° / 10°177 mm

Sep15° / 8°172 mm

Oct12° / 5°232 mm

Nov9° / 3°236 mm

Dec6° / 1°261 mm

Green months are the warmest. Typical afternoon highs and night lows in Hawkshead, and rain in a month. Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for Hawkshead. Opening times change through the year: check before you go. Hawkshead’s full climate →

About

Hill Top

The site is kept up by the National Trust. 10 Wikipedia editions have an article on it.

Hawkshead’s listed buildings and monuments →

Type: Historic house
Run by: National Trust
Listed: Grade II* listed building
Wikipedias: Covered in 10 languages
Town: 2.6 km southeast of Hawkshead
Official site: nationaltrust.org.uk/hill-top

Facts: Wikidata (CC0) and OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

The map

Mapping Hill Top

Orange is Hill Top; numbered in green, the places near it.

Towns near it

Towns close to Hill Top

Windermere is the biggest of the 8 bases nearby (4,819 people). These are the towns that list it, beginning with its own.

1 · 2.6 km northwest of it

Hawkshead

261 people · 14 places to visit

2 · 2.8 km east of it

Bowness-on-Windermere

2,290 people · 13 places to visit

3 · 4.1 km northeast of it

Windermere

4,819 people · 17 places to visit

4 · 6.9 km west of it

Coniston

595 people · 8 places to visit

Compare the 8 towns

Town	Where Hill Top is	People	Places to visit
Hawkshead	2.6 km northwest of it	261	14
Bowness-on-Windermere	2.8 km east of it	2,290	13
Windermere	4.1 km northeast of it	4,819	17
Coniston	6.9 km west of it	595	8
Ambleside	8.9 km north of it	2,624	15
Staveley	10 km east of it	1,466	2
Backbarrow	11 km south of it	240	9
Grasmere	13 km north of it	519	9

Make a day of it

Next door to Hill Top

A visit can add 3 historic houses, 2 castles and 2 museums, from 42 places within 15 km.

Castle · National TrustWray Castle5.5 km away 2

Castle · National TrustSizergh Castle15 km away 3

MuseumWindermere Jetty3.8 km away 4

Museum · English HeritageStott Park Bobbin Mill7.4 km away 5

Historic houseRydal Mount11 km away 6

Historic house · National TrustTownend7.6 km away 7

Historic houseBlackwell3.2 km away 8

Garden · National TrustStag Shaw Gardens7.4 km away

Within 15 km, close and well known first. Numbers match the map.

Your questions on Hill Top

Where is Hill Top?

Hill Top is 2.6 km southeast of Hawkshead, Cumbria.

What is Hill Top?

Writer's house museum in Hawkshead, Cumbria, England, UK.

Who runs Hill Top?

National Trust, so members usually get in free; check opening times before you go.

When is the best time to visit Hill Top?

July and August are the warmest months in Hawkshead, with afternoon highs of 18–18°C (Met Office 1991–2020 averages).

Is Hill Top a listed building?

Yes: Grade II* listed building.

What else is there to see near Hill Top?

Within 15 km: Wray Castle (5.5 km), Sizergh Castle (15 km), Windermere Jetty (3.8 km) and Stott Park Bobbin Mill (7.4 km).

Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.

Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).

Photo credits (9)

Hill Top: Chris Brown, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Wray Castle: CellsDeDells, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sizergh Castle: Ian Knox, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Windermere Jetty: Chris Allen, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stott Park Bobbin Mill: Keith Wright, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Rydal Mount: P.K.Niyogi, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Townend: Humphrey Bolton, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Blackwell: GavinJA, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stag Shaw Gardens: Ben Gamble, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.