Dove Cottage, The Wordsworth Museum and Art Gallery

Dove Cottage was the home of William Wordsworth from December 1799 to May 1808, the years of his supreme work as a poet.

Dove Cottage is thought to have been built during the early 17th century. During the second half of the 18th century it became an inn called the Dove and Olive. Many of the building's distinctive features date from this time; its white-washed walls, flagstone floors and dark, wood panelling.

When William and his sister Dorothy arrived they decided to use the upstairs bedroom as their sitting room. Without the dark panelling of the rooms downstairs, this room was naturally brighter making it a much better place for reading, writing and entertaining guests which included Sir Walter Scott in 1805, Thomas deQuincey in 1807, and their most frequent visitor and close friend, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. There was also the advantage of the view. In their time there were no buildings on the opposite side of the lane, (which was then the main road through the Lake District), giving them an uninterrupted view of Grasmere lake and much of the valley.

The Wordsworths were succeeded at the cottage by their young friend Thomas de Quincey, later famous for writing The Confessions of an English Opium Eater. From 1836 there was a varied succession of tenants until 1890, when a trust, formed by the Reverend Stopford Brooke (1832 - 1916), bought the cottage and opened it to the public a year later.

Explaining the aims and ideals of the first board of trustees, responsible for opening Dove Cottage to the public, Stopford Brooke wrote, in 1890:

'There is no place, ... which has so many thoughts and memories as this belonging to our poetry; none at least in which they are so closely bound up with the poet and the poems ... In every part of this little place [Wordsworth] has walked with his sister and wife or talked with Coleridge. And it is almost untouched. Why should we not try and secure it, ... for the eternal possession of those who love English poetry all over the world.'

Today, about 70,000 people visit Dove Cottage, a Grade 1 listed building, every year. All visitors are offered a guided tour, telling the story of the house and family. Many of the Wordsworth's household items: furniture, family possessions and portraits are displayed. The garden (open, weather permitting), Wordsworth's 'domestic slip of mountain', has been restored to the half wild state that he and Dorothy lovingly created from local plants and materials.

The entire collection of this museum is a Designated Collection of national importance.