If you are a graduate of our Ambleside campus you cannot fail to have come across the name Charlotte Mason.
Charlotte Mason established her House of Education in Ambleside in 1892. The school was a learning institution for governesses; students learned to teach the home-educated children of the professional middle classes of the late Victorian era.
At first located in Springfield on Rydal Road, the school later moved to Scale How in 1894.
After her death in 1923 the school remained a private institution and changed its name to The Charlotte Mason College before becoming part of St Martin’s College and now the Ambleside campus of the University of Cumbria.
There is evidence of Charlotte all over the campus; from the large historical timeline signpost as you first drive in, to the outline images of her on the Low Nook windows, information panels on our historic buildings and the name of our building at the top of campus to name a few. Her influence lives on in Ambleside.
There is another place in Ambleside you can go to commemorate Charlotte Mason. In the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, not much more than five minutes walk from campus, you can find her gravestone.
Charlotte Mason died in Scale How in 1923, and in 2023 we celebrated the centenary of her death with a series of lectures and a conference.
As a prominent historical figure and one whose influence and theories are still studied all around the world, her gravestone is a popular place to visit by many of her followers. You can often see small pebbles and wild flowers left there by her admirers.
At the foot of Charlotte’s grave there is a smaller flat stone, simply inscribed with the initials ‘EK’. This is the gravestone of Elsie Kitching, Elsie was Charlotte Mason’s loyal friend and she lived and worked at the House of Education. In her will she directed ‘that no headstone be erected and the grave space kept flat as a standing place for the visitors to the grave of the late Charlotte Mason’ (Margaret A Coombs – Hidden Heritage and Educational Influence. Lutterworth Press, 2015. Page 9.)
How to find Charlotte Mason’s gravestone
- Starting from the Ambleside campus, turn left into the village on Rydal Road
- At the junction turn right onto Compston Road
- Just after Zeffirellis turn right then left again up Vicarage Road
- St Mary’s Church is at the top of the road
- Head into the churchyard and in front of the church you should see that the gravestone is signposted
Have you ever taken the time to pay a visit to Charlotte Mason’s final resting place? Do pop it on your list for the next time you are in Ambleside, the church and the graveyard are beautiful.