Wordsworth Trust

Who we are

We are based at Dove Cottage in Grasmere, home to the poet William Wordsworth and the writer Dorothy Wordsworth between 1799 and 1808 - when William wrote most of what is now regarded as his greatest poetry and Dorothy wrote her Grasmere Journal.

The Wordsworth Trust operates Wordsworth Grasmere, comprising Dove Cottage, a state-of-the-art Museum, gardens and woodland. Wordsworth Grasmere is one of the Lake District’s leading visitor attractions, attracting tens of thousands of people each year from all over the world. In addition, we care for an historic hamlet in the heart of the Lake District World Heritage site and a world-class collection of manuscripts, books and fine art. The bringing together of people, poetry and place is what makes us unique - nowhere else can so much of a great writer’s original work still be found in the place where it was written and inspired.

Wordsworth hoped that his poetry would ‘live and do good’ and from its beginnings in 1891 the Wordsworth Trust has had an educational mission and a desire to reach out to lovers of poetry from all over the world.  Today our work enriches the lives of thousands of people each year. We run education programmes for primary and secondary schools and events for people of all ages and backgrounds, both on site and in communities throughout Cumbria. We are also an international centre for research, delivering courses for students and providing year-round access to our collection for anyone with an interest in the literature and culture of the Romantic Period (1750-1850).

Wordsworth wrote of “youthful Poets, who among these Hills / Will be my second self when I am gone”. From writing groups and residencies for young people and adults to poetry readings and open mic events we encourage creative responses to Wordsworth, our collection and the landscape that inspired William and Dorothy.

The Wordsworth Trust is funded by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation and by South Lakeland District Council as a Strategic Cultural Partner. We are part of the Cumbria Museum Consortium, together with the Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Trust (Carlisle) and Lakeland Arts (Kendal and Bowness-on-Windermere).

In 2021 we completed Reimagining Wordsworth, a £6.5 million investment in our site and activities and relaunched the visitor attraction as Wordsworth Grasmere. A combination of Covid and a challenging economic climate has inevitably affected our ability to attract visitors in the numbers that we hoped for, but feedback from those who have visited Wordsworth Grasmere has been overwhelmingly positive. Our work in schools and communities throughout Cumbria continues to inspire people of all ages and backgrounds.

New Trustees will join the Wordsworth Trust at an exciting time. Five years on from Reimagining Wordsworth we hope to make an announcement soon about further transformative developments.

Further information on the Trust and its work can be found on our website: wordsworth.org.uk