William Wordsworth

Of all the Wordsworth sites dotted around the Lake District, Dove Cottage is arguably the most atmospheric. Once an inn called the Dove & Olive, this little whitewashed cottage was Wordsworth’s first home in the Lakes after returning from London; he moved here in 1799 with his sister Dorothy, wife Mary and his small family, and remained here till 1808.

Informative guided tours delve into the secrets of the house and its history. The house is packed with fascinating possessions, from a pair of his spectacles and his passport to a portrait of his favourite dog, Pepper, given to him by Sir Walter Scott. Look out for the bedroom plastered with newspaper – a makeshift form of insulation necessitated by the Wordsworth’s impecunious circumstances.

At the back of the cottage is a charmingly wild garden, which Wordsworth called his ‘domestic slip of mountain’ – he tended to it himself, and often composed poetry out here too.

The region’s most picturesque and charming village. Grasmere is set on the shores of its eponymous lake and cradled by green fields and fells. William Wordsworth is buried in the churchyard of St Oswald’s – you can see the poet’s tombstone.

Wordsworth attended the little village school in Hawkshead. Learn about the poet’s early life and education on a guided tour, and also look out for the school desk where he mischievously carved his name.

Though Dove Cottage is the most famous of Wordsworth’s Lakeland homes, Rydal Mount is the one where he spent the most time – 37 years, to be precise, from 1813 until his death in 1850.

It makes an interesting companion piece to nearby Dove Cottage; altogether grander in scale, and surrounded by fine gardens, it’s a clear sign of Wordsworth’s increasing fame, wealth and poetic prestige.

Most of the house’s rooms are open to the public, from the family bedrooms to the grand drawing room and the poet’s own attic study. It’s full of interesting details for Wordsworth scholars: portraits of the poet, and possessions including his favourite walking stick, his picnic box, and the well-thumbed family bible.

Outside are the landscaped gardens which William apparently laid out to his own design (he was a passionate gardener).

Wordsworth’s childhood home in Cockermouth is now owned by the National Trust, and offers an absorbing glimpse of the poet’s early life, with costumed guides on hand to help illustrate the story.