Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum, Cumbria Overview

Once an inn called the Dove and Olive, this Grade I listed building became William Wordsworth’s home during his greatest years as a poet, and his sister Dorothy wrote her famous Grasmere Journals here. Today the cottage and a neighbouring coach house form the Wordsworth Museum

Permanent collections

Many of the Wordsworths’ household items, furniture and portraits are on display, and the garden has been returned to the half-wild state the famous siblings created. Most of Wordsworth’s surviving manuscripts are now in the collection at the Wordsworth Trust, along with the works of over 4,000 other writers and artists.

Art Funded works

JMW Turner's watercolour Ullswater, Cumberland was based on sketches made during his visits to the Lake District. As with many of Turner's landscapes, objective accuracy was sacrificed in favour of an aesthetically pleasing arrangement, rearranging the topography and bathing the landscape in a light more typical of Italy than Cumbria. The painting was a favourite of art critic and thinker John Ruskin.

Visitor information

A ticket buys visitors a fascinating guided tour of Dove Cottage, admission into the neighbouring Wordsworth Museum & Art Gallery, access to special exhibitions and free family activities during school holidays. An on-site tea room offers a large selection of appetising cakes and scones, while in the evening a licensed Italian restaurant serves antipasti, pizza and more.