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Dove Cottage(See also Grasmere and Wordsworth Museum)
The house is thought to be early 17th century and served as a small hostelry before becoming a home for the poet. The parlour (the former drinking room of the pub) is panelled in oak with Westmorland slate floors, and a window seat. The room served as a multi purpose one for the Wordsworths, being also used as a dining room and kitchen.
A larder with a stone slab and slate floor was a buttery during the cottage's pub days. A spring ran under its floor. A kitchen that also served as a laundry sat next to the downstairs bedroom.
The grounds contained a garden and orchard. Roses, honeysuckle, and beans grew up the cottage walls. Wildflowers were collected on the family's rambles and planted around the cottage. Dove Cottage Photos courtesy of Tony Richards and Jonathan and Clare © 1997-2008 by The Cumbria Directory. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part, including images, and reproduction in electronic media, without documented permission from The Cumbria Directory is prohibited. |
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Dove Cottage was the home of
William, Mary, and Dorothy Wordsworth from December 1799 to May 1808. It was during his stay at
Dove Cottage that Wordsworth's best poetry was written. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was a frequent
visitor. After the Wordsworths left Dove Cottage, Thomas De Quincey took over as the tenant.
A panelled room off the parlour was first a bedroom for
Dorothy, then a room for Wordsworth after his marriage to Mary in 1802. The three eldest of the
Wordsworth children-John, Dora, and Thomas-were born at Dove Cottage.
Upstairs is Wordsworth's
study where his poetry was set to paper. Another bedroom used by several people, a small room
papered in newspaper, and a storage room complete this floor.
Located on the A591 near the village of Grasmere.