Armitt Library

[1] The library was founded by a bequest of Mary Louisa Armitt in order that the intellectual activity of Ambleside could be celebrated.

[3] On 8 November 1912 the library opened and Hardwicke Rawnsley who was to co-found the National Trust wrote a poem in celebration.

The poem starts: As in some inland solitude a shell Still gently whispers of its home, the deep, So from the world of being beyond all sleep Where those two happy sister spirits dwell...

[3] The Armitt also houses a collection of works by Kurt Schwitters,[2] a German refugee artist who lived and died in Ambleside.

[3] It is an important resource for information on notable people connected with the area, including Mary Louisa Armitt, William Wordsworth, Harriet Martineau, John Ruskin, Frederic Yates,[5] Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley and Kurt Schwitters.