Rydal Mount is a house in the small village of Rydal, near

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

in the English

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. It is best known as the home of the poet

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

from 1813 to his death in 1850. It is currently operated as a writer's home museum.

History

Wordsworth was born in

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

in 1770, and knew the Lake District well from his childhood. He moved away to study at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1787, and then travelled in Britain and continental Europe for 12 years. He spent over 8 years at Dove Cottage in nearby Grasmere from 1799 to 1808, but was forced to move to accommodate his growing family and many visitors. After a period in Allan Bank in Grasmere, the Wordsworths moved to Rydal Mount in 1813 which remained their home until their deaths. Both Grasmere and

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

lakes can be seen from the hillside grounds of Rydal Mount. William designed the layout of the gardens at Rydal, and he often said that those grounds were his office as opposed to the spacious office/writing room in his house. On the high side of the grounds, tucked away from the main house, but overlooking both the grounds and the two nearby lakes, he built the "Writing Hut" where he spent most of his writing time. This hut consisted merely of a bench with a small roof, but it provided shelter from the frequent rains and escape from the house. He frequently was visited by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

who would walk down from his home in Keswick. Wordsworth died in 1850 and Mary in 1859. Rydal Mount was acquired in 1969 by Mary Henderson (''née'' Wordsworth), William's great great granddaughter. It remains in the ownership of the Wordsworth family, and has been opened to the public since 1970. Rydal Mount is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Gallery

Image:RydalMount.jpg, A panoramic photograph of Rydal Mount Image:RydalMount1.jpg, Gardens landscaped by William Wordsworth Image:Wordsworth Plaque.jpg, A commemorative plaque in the poet's house by John Shaw

References

External links

*
Rydal Mount Guide to the Lake District
{{coord, 54.4487, -2.9824, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Museums established in 1970 Gardens in Cumbria Historic house museums in Cumbria Biographical museums in Cumbria Literary museums in England Poetry museums Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria William Wordsworth Tourist attractions in Cumbria 1970 establishments in England Grade I listed houses Grade II listed parks and gardens in Cumbria

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links