Visit The Armitt Museum, Gallery & Library in Ambleside from February – December 2026 and you’ll be taken on a journey through 26 key words and phrases drawn from Beatrix Potter’s children’s books, letters, journals and other writings.
Potter’s importance as an environmental writer for children is a key thread within the exhibition as are her contexts, legacies and global reception.
This is a tie-in exhibition to celebrate the publication of 'An A-Z of Beatrix Potter’ by Dr Penny Bradshaw, Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Cumbria and co-curator of the exhibition.
Here we are highlighting just five of Potter’s artworks that can be seen on display.
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Potter, most famous for her children's books, was a writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She was also a pioneer of character merchandising, with Peter Rabbit becoming the first ever fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy in 1903.
Alongside this exhibition, there will also be a range of events across the year that delve into the themes and events in Potter's life in even more detail.
Exhibition poster for 'An A-Z of Beartrix Potter'
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Common Bat, Pipistrelle, Flittermouse
Common Bat, Pipistrelle, Flittermouse features under "A is for Animal"
Having been asked to look after her brother’s pet bat while he was away at school, Potter wrote that the bat is a ‘charming little creature’ who is very ‘active on its legs’, adding that most people are ‘ignorant’ about bats. A few weeks later, she produced these beautifully observed pencil and ink drawings of the bat which reveal a detailed knowledge of its anatomy.
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
Pen & ink on paper
H 15.1 x W 10 cm
The Armitt Museum and Library
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Strobilomyces strobilaceus, or Strobilomyces floccopus, or Old Man of the Woods
Strobilomyces strobilaceus or Old Man of the Woods features under "M is for Myriads of Fairy Fungi"
The day after producing this painting of ‘Old Man of the Woods’ Beatrix Potter wrote her famous letter to Noel Moore about the adventures of a little rabbit called Peter!
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
Watercolour on paper
H 21.4 x W 27.2 cm
The Armitt Museum and Library
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Cantharellus umbonata
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
Watercolour & pencil on paper
H 21.3 x W 28 cm
The Armitt Museum and Library
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Marasmius oreades, or fairy ring mushroom
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
Watercolour on paper
The Armitt Museum and Library
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The Toads' Tea Party
The Toad's Tea Party features under "M is for Myriads of Fairy Fungi"
‘The Toads’ Tea Party’ was intended for inclusion in a nursery-rhyme book which Beatrix Potter was planning to put together in 1905. In both the image and its accompanying rhyme, Potter’s mycological interests are clearly in evidence:
'If acorn-cups were tea-cups, what should we have to drink? Why! honey-dew for sugar, in a cuckoo-pint of milk; With pats of witches’ butter and a tansey cake, I think, Laid out upon a toad-stool on a cloth of cob-web silk!'
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
Ink
H 20.300001 x W 16.0 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum
