England Guide
Cumbria and the Lakes
Brantwood
Opening time: Mid-March to mid-Nov daily 11am–5.30pm; mid-Nov to mid-March Wed– Sun 11am–4.30pm
Price: £5.95, gardens only £4
Address: Two and a half miles from Coniston (off B5285)
Website: www.brantwood.org.uk
Sited on a hillside above the eastern shore of Coniston Water, Brantwood was home to John Ruskin from 1872 until his death in 1900. Ruskin was the champion of J.M.W. Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites and foremost Victorian proponent of the supremacy of Gothic architecture. His study and dining room boast superlative lake views, bettered only by those from the Turret Room where he used to sit in later life in his bathchair. The surviving Turners from Ruskin's own art collection are on show, and other exhibition rooms and galleries display Ruskin-related arts and crafts, while the excellent Jumping Jenny Tearooms – named after Ruskin's boat – has an outdoor terrace with lake views.