Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum

Between 1799 and 1808 Dove Cottage was the home of William Wordsworth and his family. Located on the outskirts of the village of Grasmere, it was here that he wrote much of the poetry that made him famous.

Next to the cottage is the Wordsworth Museum, which houses a unique collection of manuscripts, books and paintings related to Wordsworth.

The Wordsworth Trust administers both the cottage and museum.

Reviews / Comments / Additional Information

PvRK

There is a great exhibition of lake district watercolours on now (Spring 08). They are by tourists of the late 1700s - amazing!

Editor

Feb 08 - A copy of one of the most important books in the history of British poetry has gone on display at the Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere. The 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads is a signed presentation copy given to one of Wordsworth’s childhood friends. It is one of only seven copies in existence that contain replacement pages to correct a misprint. It was recently purchased by the Wordsworth Trust for £42,000.

frank

They usually close Dove Cottage in January to carry out restoration work.
There's a National Trust car park nearby. You can park for free if you are a member.
Dove Cottage is extremely small by the way. His other home Rydal Mount was bigger (he had more money when he purchased that).

Editor

The Wordsworth Trust has just purchased a copy of the poem 'White Doe of Rylstone'. It shows amendments made to the poem after it was criticised by Coleridge. The trust owns around 90 percent of Wordsworth manuscripts in existence.

molly

Wordsworth first saw Dove Cottage while out walking with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Wordsworth was very poor when he lived at Dove Cottage and actually covered the walls with newspaper instead of wallpaper.

Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum

Reviews / Comments / Additional Information

Add Review

Info

Lake District Facts & Figures