Hawkshead

File:St Michael and All Angels Parish Church, Hawkshead.jpg, built in 1300 and rebuilt in the 16th century]]

Hawkshead is just north of Esthwaite Water, in a valley to the west of Windermere and east of Coniston Water. It is part of Furness, making it a part of the ancient county of Lancashire.{{cite web|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Hawkshead|title=Hawkshead|first=John Marius|last= Wilson|publisher= Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales|year=1872}}

The township of Hawkshead was originally owned by the monks of Furness Abbey; nearby Colthouse derives its name from the stables owned by the Abbey. Hawkshead grew to be an important wool market in medieval times and later as a market town after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1532. It was granted its first market charter by King James I in 1608. In 1585, Hawkshead Grammar School was established by Archbishop Edwin Sandys of York after he successfully petitioned Queen Elizabeth I for a charter to establish a governing body.{{NHLE|num=1087232|desc=Hawkshead Grammar School|access-date=19 January 2017}}

In the 18th and 19th centuries, Hawkshead became a village of local importance. Hawkshead Market Hall was completed in 1790.{{NHLE|desc=Hawkshead Market Hall and Market Hall Cottage|num=1121554|access-date=25 April 2022}}

William Wordsworth (afterwards poet laureate) was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School, whilst Beatrix Potter lived nearby as did William Heelis, a local solicitor, in the early 20th century.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/beatrix-potter-the-lake-district-and-the-national-trust |title=Beatrix Potter, the Lake District and the National Trust |publisher=National Trust|access-date=25 April 2022}}

With the formation of the Lake District National Park in 1951, tourism grew in importance, though traditional farming still goes on around the village. Hawkshead has a timeless atmosphere and consists of a characterful warren of alleys, overhanging gables and a series of mediaeval squares. It is eloquently described in William Wordsworth's poem The Prelude.{{cite book|last=Wordsworth|first=William |title=The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem|edition=1|via=Internet Archive|publisher=Edward Moxon, Dover Street|publication-date=1850|publication-place=London|url=https://archive.org/stream/prelude00unkngoog#page/n9/mode/2up|access-date=16 June 2016}}

Much of the land in and around the village is now owned by the National Trust. The National Trust property is called Hawkshead and Claife.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hawkshead-and-claife-viewing-station/trails/windermere-west-shore-walk|title=Windermere west shore walk|publisher=National Trust|access-date=25 April 2022}}

File:Market Hall, Hawkshead.jpg]]

There are two tiers of local government covering Hawkshead, at parish and unitary authority level: Hawkshead Parish Council and Westmorland and Furness Council. The parish council meets at Hawkshead Market Hall.{{cite web |title=Hawkshead Parish Council |url=https://hawkshead-pc.org.uk/?EVENTS%2C_MEETINGS_%26amp%3B_PROJECTS |access-date=10 April 2024}} For elections to Westmorland and Furness Council, Hawkshead is part of the electoral ward of Coniston and Hawkshead.{{Cite web |title=Westmorland and Furness Council wards map. |url=https://www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023-04/26626%20WFC%20Council%20Ward%20Map%20final.pdf}}

Hawkshead was historically a chapelry within the ancient parish of Dalton-in-Furness in Lancashire. Hawkshead became a separate parish in 1578.{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 8 |date=1914 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=370–376 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol8/pp370-376 |access-date=10 April 2024}} The parish of Hawkshead then contained four townships, being Claife, Colton, Satterthwaite and a township called 'Hawkshead and Monk Coniston with Skelwith' covering the north-western part of the parish, including the village. Colton was made a separate parish in 1676; the other three townships were all also made civil parishes in 1866.{{cite web |title=Hawkshead Chapelry / Ancient Parish / Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10354560 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=10 April 2024}}

When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, it was decided to split up the civil parish of Hawkshead and Monk Coniston with Skelwith. The Monk Coniston area was added to the parish of Coniston, and the rest was split between new civil parishes called Skelwith and Hawkshead.{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1895 |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFIwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA265 |access-date=10 April 2024}} Hawkshead was included in the Ulverston Rural District, which renamed itself North Lonsdale Rural District in 1960.{{cite web |title=Hawkshead Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10354584#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=10 April 2024}} Hawkshead was transferred to the new county of Cumbria in 1974, forming part of the South Lakeland district.Local Government Act 1972 In 2023 it became part of the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Cumbria (Structural Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=331|access-date=10 April 2024}}

Hawkshead is part of the Westmorland and Lonsdale parliamentary constituency and is represented in parliament by Tim Farron MP.{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/tim-farron/1591|title=Tim Farron MP|website=Parliament.uk|access-date=30 March 2019}}

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• Listed buildings in Hawkshead

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{{Commons category|Hawkshead}}

• [http://www.cumbriacountyhistory.org.uk/township/hawkshead-monk-coniston-skelwith Cumbria County History Trust: Hawkshead and Monk Coniston with Skelwith] (nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
• [http://www.hawkshead-village.co.uk Official Hawkshead website]
• [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead Beatrix Potter Gallery and Hawkshead information at the National Trust]
• [http://www.english-lakes.com/hawkshead.html Hawkshead in an Illustrated guide to the Lake District]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181010201204/http://www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk/ Hawkshead Grammar School Museum]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080413230825/http://www.amblesidecumbria.co.uk/gallery/c5.html Photographs of Hawkshead]
• [http://www.hawksheadbenefice.co.uk/ The Benefice of Hawkshead with Low Wray and Sawrey and Rusland and Satterthwaite]

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{{Beatrix Potter}}

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Category:Villages in Cumbria

Category:Civil parishes in Cumbria

Category:Westmorland and Furness

Category:Furness