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Grasmere Gingerbread Shop in Lake District National Park

Store · Lake District National Park

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

A 1630 cottage where fresh gingerbread still draws a daily queue

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Store
Nearest trail
Right here
Audio stories
7 nearby
  • Food
  • Parking
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Grasmere: Riverside, Gingerbread and Lake

Overview

About Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

Why stop

  • A distinctive local specialty in a historic cottage

Heads up

  • Tiny interior and queues at the busiest times
This tiny whitewashed shop occupies Church Cottage, a former village school built in 1630 beside St Oswald's Churchyard. Sarah Nelson began making and selling her distinctive Grasmere Gingerbread here in 1854. It is a spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and a cake, with a crumbly texture that is quite different from ordinary gingerbread.
Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop

Map

Where it is

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StoreGrasmere Gingerbread Shop54.45791, -3.02361
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Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to visit

Go early for the calmest browse, or check back later if the queue looks discouraging. Midday is the most likely time to find a crowd, especially on weekends and during popular walking weather. The shop is generally open year-round but has a small number of longstanding church-calendar closures, so check its current opening information if you are planning around a holiday.

Rainy weather does not spoil the stop, but it can make the short wait outside less comfortable. Bring a waterproof layer, and leave room in your daypack for a box to take on a walk or home as a gift.

8 active Lake District alerts

  • ClosureChapel Stile footpath closed for retaining-wall riskPart of Footpath 543030 between Chapel Stile and Baysbrown campsite is closed because a retaining wall beside the path could collapse and material it supports could fall across the footpath.Official details
  • ClosureStanley Ghyll Lower Falls footpath closed for rockfallThe section of Footpath 408037 leading towards Stanley Ghyll Lower Falls is closed because severe rockfall damage has made the path unstable and further rockfall remains a danger.Official details
See all 8 alerts
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Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Lake District Tour Guide

Your drive to Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lake District National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

Recorded for this place

Grasmere: Riverside, Gingerbread and Lake
0:00 / 1:20
“You're nearing Grasmere village, where you can combine a walk beside the River Rothay with a stop for the local gingerbread.”

Plays as you drive up to Grasmere Gingerbread Shop in the Parkwolf Lake District Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Wordsworth Grasmere: Inside Dove Cottage
  • Easedale Tarn: Waterfalls from Grasmere
  • Rydal Water and Cave from White Moss
  • Mill Bridge: Seat Sandal and the Grasmere View
  • 298 audio storiesacross Lake District’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Eurasian Otter, Osprey, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 265 trails, 89 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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Guide

More about Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

What to expectThe shop is very small, with the green entrance tucked beside the churchyard.

The shop is very small, with the green entrance tucked beside the churchyard. A queue is common when Grasmere is busy, though it can move quickly and may disappear later in the day. Plan roughly 15 to 30 minutes, then combine it with the churchyard, Wordsworth's grave, or the riverside walk next door.

Parking at the shop is extremely limited, so it is usually easier to use village parking and walk. The interior can be difficult to navigate with a large rucksack, and wheelchair access is only practical when the shop is not exceptionally busy. Dogs are not allowed inside except assistance dogs.

Why stopThe appeal is the combination of a real local specialty and a genuinely old setting.

The appeal is the combination of a real local specialty and a genuinely old setting. Fresh batches are made daily, and the shop sells the gingerbread alongside rum butter and other ginger-themed and local foods. It is a short, characterful stop, not a museum visit or a place to spend an hour indoors.

gingerbreadcottagehistoryfoodgrasmere

Wildlife

Wildlife in Lake District

All Lake District wildlife maps
Red Deer81 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapEurasian Otter13 sightingsEurasian OtterMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapOsprey76 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapEuropean Badger51 sightingsEuropean BadgerMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapMute Swan233 sightingsMute SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapGrey Heron176 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake District. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ChallengingStone Arthur, Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar12.6 km · 5.5 hr · At the trailheadFour summits, Alcock Tarn, and a rough ridge above GrasmereModerateHelm Crag6.4 km · 3 hr · At the trailheadSteep stepped climb to the Lion and the Lamb above GrasmereModerateAlcock Tarn Walk6 km · 2.5 hr · At the trailheadA steep zigzag climb from Grasmere village to a hidden fell tarnEasyGrasmere Lake Circular6 km · 1.8 hr · At the trailheadCoffin Route, riverside meadows and a full lakeshore in under two hoursChallengingSteel Fell, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott and Helm Crag14 km · 5.3 hr · 0.1 km awayFour boggy summits above Greenburn, ending on Helm Crag's HowitzerModerateSilver How4.5 km · 2.3 hr · 0.2 km awayA short, steep climb to wide Grasmere and Langdale viewsEasyGrasmere Trail8.7 km · 3 hr · 0.2 km awayLakeshore paths and woodland from Grasmere over to Ambleside, one wayModerateFeel the Force Audio Trail4.8 km · 2 hr · 0.3 km awayVillage streets to medieval mill ruins beside Easedale Beck

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.2 km awayGrasmere VillageA slate-roofed fell village with Wordsworth, gingerbread, and walksSight · 0.5 km awayAllan BankWordsworth's villa pairs red squirrels with Grasmere views and woodlandSight · 0.6 km awayWordsworth GrasmereA poet's cottage, living garden, manuscripts, and wide valley viewsSight · 0.9 km awayGrasmereA peaceful lake loop beneath the central Lake District fellsSight · 2.2 km awayRydal WaterSmall lake, big reflections beneath Loughrigg FellSight · 2.4 km awayRydal CaveA former slate quarry opens onto water, stone, and fell viewsSight · 2.8 km awayRydal MountWordsworth's final home, wrapped in five acres of garden and pathsSight · 4.9 km awayAmblesideOutdoor shops and old slate streets, with Windermere a mile away

Parkwolf’s Lake District ranking

Top sights in Lake District

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  1. 1WindermereSight
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  3. 3UllswaterSight
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