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Near Sawrey and Far Sawrey are two neighbouring villages in The English Lake District between the town of Hawkshead and the lake of Windermere. They lie on the B5285, which runs from Hawkshead to the Windermere Ferry one mile to the east of the villages.

Snuggled in the rolling farmland and wooded hillsides by lake Windermere, The attractive conservation village of Near Sawrey is situated two miles from Hawkshead down the eastern side of Esthwaite Water, overlooked by the woods and tarns of Claife Heights.

The village is indelibly associated with writer Beatrix Potter, who first visited in 1896 when her parents rented a village house (Ees Wyke). She described Near Sawrey “as near perfect a little place as I ever lived in” Link . The author later purchased SD3795 : Hill Top, a 17th century farmhouse, in 1905 with the royalties from her first book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”. A number of sites in the villages were used in her books such as The Tale of Tom Kitten, The Fairy Caravan, The Pie and the Patty Pan and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.

The villages date from at least the 14th century, when Near Sawrey was known as 'Sourer', becoming 'Narr Sawrey' by the 17th century (suggesting that Far Sawrey must have been in existence by this time).

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Hill Top is a 17th-century house in Near Sawrey. It is an example of Lakeland vernacular architecture with random stone walls and slate roof. Its claim to fame is that the house was once the home of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter Link .

Beatrix Potter bought Hill Top Farm in 1905 with the royalties from her first book, the Tale of Peter Rabbit, written at her parents’ home in London, but inspired by her annual holiday visits to the Lake District. She wrote many of her famous children’s stories in this little 17th century stone house, using Hill Top itself and the surrounding countryside as inspiration for many of her subsequent books. Characters such as Tom Kitten, Samuel Whiskers and Jemima Puddleduck were all created here, and the books contain many pictures based on the house and garden.

Beatrix Potter actively supported the National Trust for much of her life and bequeathed Hill Top and her surrounding land to the Trust upon her death in 1943, with the proviso that it be kept exactly as she left it, complete with her furniture and china. Hill Top remains as it was then, and is now the most visited literary shrine in the Lake District. The house is open to visitors at advertised times (Link National Trust Information for visitors).