Hardwicke Rawnsley money to buy Brandlehow Wood, the National Trust's first purchase in the Lake District. In 1898, Rawnsley was offered the bishopric of Madagascar, but declined it, feeling himself committed to his conservation work in the Lake District and, by then, in many other parts of the British countryside. In 1912 he was appointed to the largely honorary position of chaplain to the King, and he held the post of chaplain to the Border Regiment of the Territorial Force, with the rank of colonel. Rawnsley published more than forty books, mostly non-fiction, some on religious subjects, many with a Lake District
Hardwicke Rawnsley Lord Tennyson, with whom Rawnsley had a family connection. In 1883 Rawnsley was appointed Vicar of Crosthwaite, near Keswick, and Rural Dean. In 1891 was appointed as an honorary canon of Carlisle Cathedral. In 1884 he and his wife began organising classes in metalwork and wood carving, which resulted in the establishment of a School of Industrial Art in Keswick, which remained in operation until 1986. His interest in education also led him to take a large part in founding Keswick High School, which opened in October 1898, one of the first co-educational secondary schools in the country. In 1888