Grasmere Village

William Wordsworth was born the second of five children on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, a small Cumbria market village some 40km northwest of Grasmere. He spent his youth wandering the vast wild open of the Lake District and grew a sentimental, almost romantic attachment and attraction to its formidable contours. So, Wordsworth may have left his humble hometown to pursue an education at the University of Cambridge in 1787 and subsequently to tour Europe with his muse and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but his heart never left the Lakes and its haunting, visceral landscapes.

It was while touring his old homelands with Coleridge in 1799 that Wordsworth discovered Grasmere. He was instantly enamoured and quickly purchased an old public house (inn) called the “Dove and Olive” into which he moved with his beloved sister Dorothy. This is today known as Dove Cottage. Wordsworth would call this small stone building, originally constructed in the 17th century, home for the next eight years of his life, regularly holding literary symposiums with Coleridge and fellow literary prodigy Thomas de Quincey here, also writing some of his most influential works, including “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” and extracts of his autobiographical epic The Prelude.

Today, Dove Cottage is a nationally-famous tourist sight, bringing in some 70,000 curious visitors each year. As well as being a gorgeous Grade I-listed building, the cottage now operates as a sort of living museum, the interiors curated to give a vivid impression of what day-to-day life would have been like for Wordsworth and his guests. The beautiful fellside gardens, where William and sister Dorothy spent much of their time, are also open to the public, maintained in the half-wild state that Wordsworth and Dorothy kept it in so that it could become their “little domestic slip of mountain.”

In 2020, the Wordsworth Trust also opened the Wordsworth Museum to help further display their leading collection of Romantic manuscripts, letters, and artefacts, composed of some 60,000 individual items. The new museum features interactive displays on Wordsworth’s life and influence in the area and provides a breathtaking viewing platform over the Grasmere Vale.

Grasmere is small in size, but packs a big punch. If you want to trace more of Wordsworth’s incredible life, Allan Bank, where he lived for two years after leaving Dove Cottage in 1808, is a beautiful Georgian villa owned by the National Trust with recreations of Wordsworth’s former study and rooms inside. The home is a scenic fifteen-minute walk from Dove Cottage. To carry on your Wordsworth tour, hop on one of the regular 555 or 599 buses to nearby Rydal, another idyllic village sequestered between daunting mountains and breathtaking lakes, and visit Rydal Mount, where Wordsworth lived from 1813 until his death in 1850. The highlight is without doubt the home’s splendid five-acre gardens which were Wordsworth’s pride and joy in his later life. Meanwhile, the village itself features a hidden waterfall and grotto if you fancy exploring the home’s surroundings too.

Head back to Grasmere for a sombre end to this miniature Wordsworth trail. The churchyard of St. Oswald’s Church, whose 14th-century spire owlishly presides over the sleepy slate- and thatched-roof skyline of the village, is home to the graves of Wordsworth and several of his family members, as well as the Wordsworth Memorial Daffodil Gardens, inspired by his 1815 poem “The Daffodils”. It is perfect for a pensive walk and guests can sponsor daffodil bulbs or wild shrubs to be planted to reach the Garden’s goal of 10,000 wild daffodils dancing in the breeze.

The Church is also notable for the annual rushbearing ceremony held every August on St. Oswald’s Day, an ancient tradition in which parishioners cover the floors of the church with sweet-smelling rushes. Right beside the church you will find the world-famous Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, where Grasmere gingerbread - freshly baked every day from a secret recipe invented in 1854 by Sarah Nelson - is sold from an adorable 17th-century former schoolhouse. It has been described as somewhere between a biscuit and a cake with a crumbly exterior and delightfully chewy, spicy-sweet inside. The village is full of other family-run independent cafes and stores you have to visit too: Sam Read’s Bookseller is an award-winning independent bookshop that has been in operation since 1877, while The Good Sport is a hearty gastro-pub which runs its own local brewery and has a gorgeous slate beer garden that hangs over the babbling River Rothay, perfect for a warm summer’s day.

• The Good Sport - brewery-tap room with a gastropub menu served all day round and a gorgeous beer garden overlooking the River Rothay.
• The Jumble Room - eclectic Asian-inspired organic restaurant with a focus on healthy and affordable food made from local produce in a casual setting.
• Lucia’s Coffee + Bakehouse - intimate, warm, and friendly cafe with a range of sweet and savoury options and a very reasonable price. The flapjacks, tiffins, and custard tarts come particularly recommended!
• Grasmere Tea Gardens - traditional British tea rooms with a splendid view of the River Rothay.

You have a surprising number of really good options if you want to stay in Grasmere, but we recommend the Wordsworth Hotel, which is set right in the heart of the village surrounded by serene riverside gardens. Each room is individually-styled and there is also an award-winning restaurant and an indoor pool and spa onsite. We strongly recommend the breakfast, which is cooked with only the very best local produce.