Cartmel is a charming village where monastic buildings brush shoulders with delightful cottages, where foodies come to dine in world-class restaurants and where horse-racing fans can enjoy National Hunt events every summer.
The village’s magnificent priory church of St Mary and St Michael was built in 1190. Highlights include a huge stained glass window dating from the fifteenth century, and the south-west door, known as Cromwell’s Door, said to feature bullet holes made by local people firing at Cromwell’s soldiers during the Civil War. Guided tours take place on Wednesdays, but visitors are welcome to wander round by themselves most days.
Other attractions include the fourteenth-century priory gatehouse close to the village’s attractive market cross, and the tiny Hampsfell, which is little more than a mile’s walk from Cartmel. Slightly further afield, there’s Humphrey Head, Holker Hall and, in nearby Flookburgh, the Lakeland Miniature Village, with tiny buildings made from Coniston slate.
