Yew Tree Farm, Lake District, England by Aidan Mincher When you see photos like this, it's easy to see why Beatrix Potter was drawn to this part of England in her later years. In 1929, when Beatrix Potter was 64 years old, the Monk Coniston estate came up for sale. The estate consisted of 2500 acres of land around the head of Coniston Water. It consisted of the well-known beauty spot Tarn Hows, seven farms including Yew Tree, Boon Crag, High Arnside, High Tilberthwaite and High Yewdale, as well as cottages, quarries and open fell land. She sold the half containing Tarn Hows to the National Trust, and bequeathed the rest of the estate to the Trust in her will. Read more here.
3 comments:
Rosemary, thanks for the link to Potter's farm. Such lovely pictures! I've always admired her books, but had no idea that she was committed to farming, also.
Pam, Doesn't this make you love her more? In the later half of her life, the children's author Beatrix Potter was involved with keeping and breeding Herdwick sheep, even acting as president of the breed association for a time. Between 1930 and 1938 she won a number of prizes for Herdwick ewes at shows across Cumbria. Upon her death in 1943, she bequeathed fifteen farms—approximately a total sum of 4,000 acres—to the National Trust, and per her instructions that all continue to graze Herdwick flocks. She thought of everything, didn't she? xo, Rosemary
I LOVE the names of each of the Farms which I believe makes them even more romantic!
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