Louisa Fennell Walking Trail

Discover Wakefield Through the Eyes of Louisa Fennell

With Louisa’s Trail we honour Louisa’s life and legacy in the city she captured so beautifully in watercolour.

This self-guided Wakefield walking trail takes visitors to some of the city’s most important and fascinating historic locations, helping you see Wakefield as Louisa may have seen it when she was painting her remarkable watercolours.

Whether you are interested in local history, heritage walks, art, architecture, or simply looking for a different way to explore the city, the Louisa Fennell Walking Trail offers a unique perspective on Wakefield’s past.

Image of the Louisa Fennel Walking Train Leaflet — Louisa Fennel Walking Trail Leaflet

Explore the Trail

The trail visits a number of important buildings and locations connected to Louisa’s work and the history of Wakefield.

Click on the image above to see it full page scale.
Click on the images below to see larger copies.

About Louisa Fennell

Louisa’s Life

Like many of our first group of women, Louisa undoubtedly had a privileged upbringing. She was also fortunate to have a father and mother who valued her as a person and not just as a commodity to maintain their standing in society. Indeed, Louisa appears to have enjoyed a close relationship with her father. She later excelled under the tutelage of some of the most respected art teachers in the area.

However, Louisa’s life was not without its difficulties. Chief among them was that, even though she was a respected watercolourist, she was still not allowed to mix in elite art circles because she was a woman.

For more historical information based on research by Helga Fox, Nicky Harley, and our wider research team, download our free broadsheet below, or check out Louisa’s page on this site.

Louisa Fennell DTC Broadsheet Download

Audio Drama: Moments from Louisa’s Life

We have also created an audio drama exploring key moments in Louisa’s life.

While the drama departs from the historical record in places, it aims to remain faithful to what we know about Louisa and the people around her, helping us imagine some of the relationships and experiences that may have shaped her life.

Multi-Language Louisa Fennell Trail

Funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and developed as part of our work with Wakefield District City of Sanctuary, the Louisa Fennell Multi-Language Trail enables members of Wakefield’s diverse communities to experience the trail in a range of languages.

We now regularly host, and support others to host, guided walks in languages including Polish, Urdu and more.

If you would like to experience the trail for yourself, the guidebook is available free of charge from the Dream Time Creative Scribd account by clicking the link or image below.