Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry

The Museum takes you back through time to explore the story of the Lake District and its inhabitants. Isolated before the arrival of the railway and motorcar, this area developed its own unique customs and traditions.

Recreated period rooms and workshops reveal how rural people lived and worked and played and how different life was before the introduction of machinery. Discover a Lake District kitchen, complete with traditional recipes and utensils, a bedroom full of vernacular furniture and furnishings – including a magnificent 17th century four-poster bed, a farmhouse parlour with a working phonograph and rare 18th century oak panelling.

Recreated farmhouse rooms and workshops tell the story of Lakeland folk, who lived in relative isolation before the arrival of motorcars and trains. The importance of sheep-farming and the related wool-trade, as well as mining and industry, to the area is shown through a combination of real artefacts and photography. A recreation of author Arthur Ransome's study, complete with his personal papers and posessions, tells the story of his fascination with the Lakes, and an Arts & Crafts area highlights the importance of figures like John Ruskin had on the revival of local crafts. Parts of the collection that are not on permanent display can be seen by prior arrangement.

Collection details

Agriculture, Archives, Costume and Textiles, Decorative and Applied Art, Industry, Medicine, Personalities, Photography, Science and Technology, Social History

Key artists and exhibits

• Joseph Hardman
• Arthur Ransome
• Arts & Crafts in Cumbria
• Simpsons of Kendal
• Stanley Davies
• Annie Garnett