Rydal Mount: The Story of Wordsworth’s Home by Eileen Jones

The most famous of the Romantic poets, William Wordsworth lived at Rydal Mount in the Lake District for most of his life, an idyllic house set in five acres of gardens on the lower slopes of a Lakeland mountain. This is the story of the house, from its origins in the 16th century when it was built as a yeoman’s cottage, through many extensions and renovations. It’s the story of the people who lived there, before and after Wordsworth’s time, and especially the later years when the house was bought by the poet’s descendants and it became both a family home and a tourist attraction, a destination of literary pilgrimage. The author worked with the Wordsworth family for many years, and grew to know the house well, even spending a night there in the poet’s bedroom, before Rydal Mount’s subsequent sale to the Wordsworth Trust. This is a book for all who love poetry, who love the Lake District, and who enjoy some literary detective work.

Here’s a look behind the scenes at our family home which has also been one of the best loved heritage destinations in the Lake District for more than half a century. We hope you will love Rydal Mount as much as we have done. (Christopher Andrew and Simon Bennie, the poet’s great-great-great-great-grandsons).