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Rydal Mount

Rydal Mount is situated between Ambleside and Grasmere and was the home of William Wordsworth between 1813 and 1850. It was once a small farm cottage, and the oldest parts of the house date back to 1574, although the house was extended considerably towards the end of the 18th century. The deaths of his two young children, Catherine and Thomas, in 1812 caused Wordsworth and the remaining members of his family to leave Grasmere for nearby Rydal, a small hamlet set back from the eastern end of Rydal Water. It was while living at Rydal Mount that Wordsworth accepted the honour of becoming Poet Laureate.

Wordsworth, a keen landscape gardener, designed much of the four acre garden (just as he did at his previous home of Dove Cottage), and it has changed little in the 150 years or so since he died. After his daughter, Dora, died in 1847, Wordsworth, his wife and his sister planted hundreds of daffodils in a small field as a memorial to her; Dora's Field now belongs to the National Trust.

Although Wordsworth only ever rented the property (from the Flemings of nearby Rydal Hall), Rydal Mount is now owned by descendants of the poet and has been open to the public since 1970. The house contains portraits, personal possessions and first editions of Wordsworth's much-loved work.

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