Hi. I'm Liz Hunter MacFarlane and I'm Collections and House Manager for the National Trust here in
the South Lakes. Hilltop is one of over 14 farms and 4,000 acres of countryside that
Beatrix Potter left to the National Trust. And it was here that she wrote many of her iconic stories.
Hilltop was incredibly important to Beatrix Potter.
It was a place of sanctuary and refuge at a particularly turbulent time in her life.
And as you'll see it still offers that sense of peace and tranquility today.
Unfortunately at the moment we can't open due to the current restrictions
but we'd like to show you a little bit behind the scenes. Before we go into the house let's head over
to the gallery in Hawkshead and see some of Beatrix Potter's wonderful original watercolours.
So here we are at the Beatrix Potter gallery, and the gallery shows an annually changing
exhibition of Beatrix Potter's artwork. Usually once our artwork's been out it goes
away for at least 10 years, so we've taken this opportunity to show you some special highlights.
Now we wouldn't normally have these out for a good many years again yet
so it's lovely to be able to have them out today for our behind the scenes tour.
Hello. My name is Pete Tasker and I'm the Gardener at Hilltop and it's been my job for the last 32 years.
Today we're going to have a look at some of the garden features that Beatrix Potter drew in
her stories and used as a basis for her illustrations. Starting with Tom Kitten's Gate which is the
original way into the garden. So-called Tom Kitten's Gate because it features in The Tale of Tom Kitten.
And it would have been how Beatrix got into the garden from the road. Behind me is the slate path
that Beatrix had made around about 1904,1905. She had it laid out by some local quarrymen,
and that features heavily in The Tale of Tom Kitten. There's a lovely illustration of Tom Kitten and
his sisters being dragged off up the path by his mum after getting their Sunday best a bit dirty.
Let's head up the path and look at some of the features of the garden.
We're now in the vegetable garden which was the original part of the garden
when Beatrix bought the house. Although it doesn't look like much in the winter
this is the rhubarb patch where Jemima Puddle-Duck laid her eggs.
This is one of our most iconic views and one that's really popular with visitors.
So here we are in the Treasure Room and we are with Beatrix Potter's doll's house which is a
really magical item. There are so many treasures in the house here but this really is one of
my favourites. And seeing that there's nobody about shall we have a little look inside.
The two bad mice were two particularly badly behaved characters which we love about them
because of their mischief. And Beatrix wanted to portray them making all sorts of trouble in
the doll's house. And you can see here some of the items that the two bad mice stole
including the bird cage here and Hunca Munca's cradle. But also we have the wonderful doll's food that came
from Hamley's. And Beatrix paints the ham and the dessert, the pears, and the oranges.
And they all feature in the tale. From some small items to some really tiny ones.
These are some miniature bronzes.
These little figures were some of many pieces of merchandise that we have in the house.
And they were sample pieces that were provided for her to approve the licensing agreement.
These tiny figures are full of detail and some of Beatrix's most iconic characters are featured.
These pieces were made in Austria, and for many years the moulds that they were cast in were lost,
but recently they were rediscovered. And so now happily we're able to sell them in our shop.
Hilltop was a place of sanctuary and refuge for Beatrix
and we hope that you've enjoyed spending a short time with us today.
We couldn't look after places like this without our supporters and members so thank you.