[3] The prize celebrates the legacy of British guidebook writer Alfred Wainwright.
The prize was established by Frances Lincoln Publishers and The Wainwright Society, in association with the National Trust.
[5] In 2020 the prize was no longer sponsored, but was supported by an anonymous benefactor and was "in association with the National Trust".
[1] In 2021 the Kendal papermakers James Cropper plc became the prize's "headline sponsors" in a three-year agreement.
[7] The prize was first awarded in 2014 to Hugh Thomson for his The Green Road into the Trees: A Walk through England.