Wordsworth House

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“Painstaking research has gone into restoring this charming Georgian townhouse just as it would have been in the 18th century. Actors play the roles of household members, bringing to life the time when the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy would have lived there, alongside their three siblings. Both William and Dorothy were raised by nursemaids who were under instructions not to engage in ‘shouting and chiding’. This was most unusual in an age when children were generally treated more harshly. Their father, John Wordsworth, was a busy solicitor for the Earl of Lonsdale and was often away traveling. It was his death, when William was just 13 that caused the breakup of the family home. The Wordsworth children were brought up by their Uncles, causing William some unhappiness, from which he took many years and much writing to recover. Wordsworth House, the home where he spent his earlier, happy childhood, is entered by climbing a flight of elegant steps. Out of sight there are spacious cellars including the dairy cellar, the wine and beer cellar and the larder, which was at the back to receive deliveries. The house is near the town of Cockermouth. At the time it was prospering on the back of the leather and textile industries and was said to have ‘a countenance of opulence’. It’s interesting that the young William was more drawn to the wild beauty of the Lake District outside the front door. It inspired him to write some of England’s greatest Romantic literature. Twenty years after the death of their father, William and Dorothy returned to the Lake District, settling at Dove Cottage. ”

See more Historic Homes in North of England:

• Aydon Castle
• Beningbrough Hall & Gardens
• Brodsworth Hall & Gardens
• Burton Constable
• Cherryburn (Thomas Bewick’s Birthplace)
• Cragside
• Dalemain
• Dove Cottage & Wordsworth Museum
• Dunham Massey
• East Riddlesden
• Fairfax House
• Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
• Gawthorpe Hall
• George Stephenson’s Birthplace
• Harewood House & Bird Garden
• Hill Top
• Holker Hall & Gardens
• Hutton in the Forest
• Leighton Hall
• Levens Hall
• Little Moreton Hall
• Lyme Park
• Merchant’s Adventurer’s Hall
• Newby Hall & Gardens
• Nunnington Hall
• Ormesby Hall
• Paxton House and Country Park
• Rufford Old Hall
• Rydal Mount & Gardens
• Speke Hall
• Tatton Park
• Townend
• Wallington
• Washington Old Hall
• Wordsworth House