Geograph - photograph every grid square

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).