Hawkshead Grammar School

Hawkshead Grammar School, now a museum, was established in 1675, with the entrance rebuilt in 1888 and windows added in 1891. The building is constructed of roughcast stone with ashlar dressings and has a slate roof. It features two storeys and three bays, with three sets of two-light and two sets of three-light ovolo-mullioned windows. The ground floor windows have three-centred heads, while the first-floor windows are adorned with label moulds and leaded glazing.

The entrance, located between the first and second bays, is framed by an architrave and a pulvinated frieze that bears a panel dated 1585. Above the entrance is a plaque displaying the armorial bearing and a memorial inscription to the founder, along with the date 1675, placed there by the builder. This is topped by a consoled cornice with decorated brackets, a scrolly pediment, and a crest, as well as an obliquely set sundial within an eared and shouldered architrave. A rainwater head is dated 1891.

The left side of the building features a projecting gable-end stack with a round shaft on a square base, while the right side has four-light windows and a three-light window in the rear wing, which includes gable-end and cross-axial stacks with round shafts. Inside, the school has chamfered beams and an elliptical-headed fireplace. Fixed benches and desks are inscribed with the carved names of former pupils, and a panelled door with strap hinges leads to a stone dog-leg stair.

The school was founded by Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, in 1585 and built by Daniel Rawlinson in 1675. One of its most notable pupils was William Wordsworth, who attended from 1778 to 1787, and his name can be found carved on a desk.