About
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery is one of Cumbria's most rewarding and characterful museums — a Victorian institution that has accumulated a wonderfully eclectic collection over 150 years of existence in the heart of the Lake District. Founded in 1873, the museum's collections range from the extraordinary to the bizarre, from the scientifically significant to the poetically resonant, making it an essential destination for anyone visiting Keswick and the surrounding northern Lake District.
The museum's most celebrated object is unquestionably the Musical Stones of Skiddaw — a remarkable lithophone constructed from 61 pieces of Skiddaw slate by the local musician and inventor Joseph Richardson between 1827 and 1840. Richardson spent over 13 years collecting, shaping, and tuning the stones, which produce a clear, bell-like tone when struck. The instrument was taken on a tour of Britain and eventually played before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace in 1848, reportedly delighting the Queen and Prince Albert. It is one of the most extraordinary musical instruments ever made in Britain, and visitors can hear it demonstrated.
For lovers of English Romantic literature, Keswick Museum is a pilgrimage destination. The museum holds manuscripts, letters, and books associated with the Lakeland Poets — William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and especially Robert Southey, who lived at Greta Hall in Keswick for 40 years and served as Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death in 1843. Original manuscripts in these poets' hands, personal letters, and objects from their lives give an intimate contact with the writers whose work was shaped by the Lake District landscape visible from the museum's windows.
Beyond these headline attractions, the museum offers the pleasures of genuine Victorian curiosity culture: a 500-year-old mummified cat discovered in a Keswick building, a lock of Napoleon Bonaparte's hair, a mummified cat, a scale model of the Lake District, and cabinets of geological specimens from Skiddaw and the surrounding fells. The art collection focuses on Lake District watercolours and topographical prints, with works capturing the landscape that inspired two centuries of artists and writers. Managed by Cumberland Council, the museum was significantly refurbished in 2014–2016 and offers a modern, accessible visitor experience while retaining its Victorian character.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday
💡 Weekday morning in spring or autumn when Keswick is quieter and the museum is unhurried
💡 Visitor Tips
- Ask a member of staff to demonstrate the Musical Stones — hearing the lithophone played is a genuinely extraordinary experience and should not be missed. Demonstrations happen at set times; check the website.
- The museum is free and compact — most visitors need 60–90 minutes, making it ideal as part of a longer Keswick day that includes Derwentwater, the Pencil Museum, or a short fell walk.
- Combine with the nearby Keswick Pencil Museum (0.3km) for a fuller picture of Keswick's industrial and creative heritage — graphite from Borrowdale is what made both the pencil and many of the Romantic-era artists' drawings possible.
- The Castlerigg Stone Circle (2km, free access) is a perfect pairing with a museum visit — take the short walk out of town to one of England's most atmospheric Neolithic monuments.
- Parking in Keswick is limited and expensive in peak season; arrive by bus (the X4/X5 from Penrith connects to the mainline rail network) or cycle in via the quiet road from Threlkeld.
- The museum runs holiday programmes for families during Lake District school holidays — check the website if visiting with children.
- The museum shop stocks excellent books on Lake District literature, geology, natural history, and art — a good source of specialist titles not found in mainstream bookshops.
- Keswick town centre is immediately adjacent with numerous cafés, pubs, and restaurants — the museum is easy to combine with a town centre lunch.
Highlights
The Musical Stones of Skiddaw
The museum's supreme treasure is the Musical Stones — a lithophone (stone xylophone) of 61 carefully tuned pieces of Skiddaw slate, constructed over 13 years (1827–1840) by the Keswick musician Joseph Richardson.
Richardson discovered that pieces of the local slate produced a clear, melodious tone when struck, and spent years selecting, cutting, and tuning pieces to create a fully chromatic instrument capable of playing tunes. Taken on tour across Britain and eventually performed before Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace in 1848 — reportedly delighting the royal household — the instrument is a staggering combination of natural material, musical ingenuity, and Victorian showmanship.
Lakeland Poets Manuscripts and Letters
The museum holds original manuscripts, letters, and personal items associated with the poets who made the Lake District the most celebrated literary landscape in England.
Robert Southey — Poet Laureate from 1813 to 1843 — lived at Greta Hall in Keswick for 40 years, and the museum's Southey collection is outstanding. Materials relating to Coleridge (who also lived at Greta Hall) and Wordsworth (at nearby Grasmere and Rydal) complete a collection that gives intimate, physical contact with the minds behind some of the greatest English poetry.
Original letters and manuscripts in these poets' hands are among the museum's most affecting holdings.
The 500-Year-Old Mummified Cat
Among the delightful curiosities that give Keswick Museum its distinctive Victorian character is a mummified cat approximately 500 years old, discovered within the fabric of a Keswick building — probably sealed into a wall or beneath floorboards during construction, a practice believed to bring good luck and ward off evil spirits.
The dried, naturally mummified animal, its expression frozen for five centuries, is one of those objects that stops visitors in their tracks and reminds them that museum collections are essentially organised wonder.
Napoleon's Lock of Hair
The museum's collection includes a lock of hair from Napoleon Bonaparte — one of many such relics that circulated after the emperor's death in 1821 as the cult of Napoleonic memorabilia swept Europe and beyond.
Alongside the mummified cat, this object exemplifies the Victorian love of collecting rarities and curiosities from the widest possible reach of history and geography. The provenance and acquisition story of the lock is itself part of the museum's narrative of Keswick's Victorian cultural ambitions.
Collections
Keswick Museum and Art Gallery holds collections covering art, natural history, local history, geology, and Victorian curiosities, all centred on the Lake District of northern Cumbria. The headline holdings are the Musical Stones of Skiddaw (the Richardson lithophone, 1840), literary manuscripts and letters of the Lakeland Poets (particularly Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth), and an exceptional assortment of Victorian curiosities including the mummified cat and Napoleon's hair.
The art collection focuses on Lake District topographical paintings and watercolours from the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Natural history collections include important geological specimens from the Skiddaw Slate and Borrowdale Volcanic rock formations. Local history holdings cover Keswick's development, the Borrowdale graphite mine, and the broader social history of the northern Lake District. The museum was significantly refurbished in 2014–2016 and now presents its collections in modern, accessible galleries while retaining its Victorian character.
The Musical Stones of Skiddaw
Dedicated gallery for Joseph Richardson's extraordinary lithophone, with interpretation of its construction and the 1848 royal performance
📍 Musical Stones Gallery
Lakeland Poets: Words and Landscape
Literary collections including manuscripts, letters, and objects associated with Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth
📍 Literary Collections Gallery
Lake District Art
Collection of topographical paintings and watercolours depicting the Lake District landscape
📍 Art Gallery
Curiosities and Natural History
Victorian curiosity collections including the mummified cat, Napoleon's hair, geological specimens, and natural history displays
📍 Curiosities Gallery and Natural History Gallery
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Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.