Ferry, forest and Potter country
Far Sawrey
Cross Windermere for a hillside hamlet linking a traditional Lakeland inn, Beatrix Potter's parish church and walks towards Claife Heights.
- Best for
- Ferry arrivals, Potter history and woodland walks
- Give it
- A thoughtful half-day on foot
- Don't miss
- St Peter's quieter Potter connection
The Fox verdict
Where ferry, footpaths and Potter meet
Far Sawrey is a small hillside base with an unusually good mix of lake crossing, local history, food and walks from the village.
Come across Windermere, pause at the Victorian church where Beatrix Potter worshipped, then follow the wooded slopes of Claife Heights. Cuckoo Brow Inn gives the day a natural food stop without pulling you away from Far Sawrey.
Where to go
Places in Far Sawrey
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesCuckoo Brow Inn
A traditional Lakeland inn serving hearty seasonal British food, with vegetarian and vegan choices and local real ales.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 90 minutes for a meal
- Locality
- Far Sawrey
Hill Top
Beatrix Potter's farmhouse in Near Sawrey, bought in 1905 and now cared for by the National Trust.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 2 hours
- Locality
- Near Sawrey
Claife Heights Forest Walks
Woodland paths climbing the hillside above the Sawreys to panoramic views over Windermere.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 2 hours for a shorter forest walk
- Locality
- Claife Heights above the Sawrey villages
History & heritage
2 placesWindermere Ferry
A cable-guided vehicle and passenger ferry linking Far Sawrey with Bowness-on-Windermere across the lake, on a crossing used since at least the fifteenth century.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 20 minutes for the crossing experience
- Locality
- Far Sawrey ferry landing
St Peter's Church
A large Victorian church in early English Gothic style, with information about Beatrix Potter's local contribution and a peaceful churchyard looking over the countryside.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: Allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Far Sawrey, beside Cuckoo Brow Inn
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Three ways to explore Far Sawrey
Signature outings
Arrive by Windermere Ferry
Take the short vehicle-and-passenger crossing between Bowness-on-Windermere and Far Sawrey.
Find the quieter connection
Visit the Victorian church where Beatrix Potter worshipped and played an active part in the congregation.
Take a Lakeland inn table
Settle in for seasonal British food and local real ale at Far Sawrey's traditional village inn.
The village story
Far Sawrey beyond the ferry
The unchanged Travel Fox story moves from the lake crossing and hillside setting to the inn, Potter's church, nearby walks and the practicalities of arriving.
Across the lake to the Sawreys
The Windermere Ferry pulls in and out of Far Sawrey all day, a cable-guided flat-bottomed boat that carries cars and foot passengers across to Bowness in about five minutes. It is the quick way in and out, and it has been the quick way in and out since at least the fifteenth century, though the cables are a more recent addition.
Far Sawrey sits on the hillside above the crossing, one of two adjoining hamlets — the other is Near Sawrey, half a mile up the road. Between them and Hawkshead, a mile and a half west, there isn't a great deal except fields, the wooded slope of Claife Heights, and the western shore of Windermere below.
A walking village inn
The pub is the Cuckoo Brow Inn, a traditional Lakeland inn with a kitchen that has picked up AA rosettes. The chef, Loredan Gargalac, arrived by way of European hotels, which is not the usual route to a village inn between two hamlets. The food is seasonal British à la carte and built for people who have been walking — hearty, locally sourced from Lake District producers, with a vegan and vegetarian menu alongside it.
Lunch runs from noon to four, sandwiches from two to four, dinner from six to nine, and there's a breakfast menu and a Sunday lunch. The bar keeps three local real ales, among them Coniston Bluebird and Loweswater Gold, both from Cumbrian Legendary Ales.
Potter's parish church
Next door is St Peter's Church, Victorian and built in a large early English Gothic style. It seats four hundred, which is a lot of seating for two hamlets on a hillside.
Beatrix Potter worshipped here. Her farmhouse, Hill Top, is over in Near Sawrey — she bought it in 1905 — but she came to St Peter's, and she was an active member of the congregation until her death in 1943. The church has plaques and information about what she did for the area. The churchyard is quiet and looks out over open countryside.
Farmhouse and forest
Hill Top itself is now run by the National Trust and sits half a mile away, an easy walk from Far Sawrey. There's a village shop in Far Sawrey, and the shop at Near Sawrey is close enough that the two run into each other on foot.
Above all of it is Claife Heights, a wooded hillside with forest walks that climb to panoramic views over Windermere. It's the sort of walking you do from the door rather than driving to.
Arriving for the quieter side
Getting here is either the ferry from Bowness or the B5285 from Hawkshead by car. Buses run from Hawkshead, but seasonally, so a car is the safer bet outside summer.
The two Sawreys have made a good living out of a woman who wrote about a rabbit, and they've done it quietly. The coaches go to Hill Top; the church next door, where she actually sat on Sundays, mostly gets people who came for the ferry and stayed for the walk.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Windermere Ferry — westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Cuckoo Brow Inn — cuckoobrow.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- St Peter's Church — achurchnearyou.com national body or asset manager
- Hill Top — historicengland.org.uk statutory register or public authority record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- Claife Heights Forest Walks — lakedistrict.gov.uk statutory register or public authority