Grasmere and Dove Cottage

William and Dorothy Wordsworth moved into Dove Cottage in December 1799, a small former inn called the Dove and Olive Bough on the old road, and lived there until 1808; the most productive years of his writing happened in those rooms, and Dorothy kept the Grasmere Journals there, which record the daffodils, the walks and the household in prose many readers prefer to the poems. The cottage is dark, low and damp, with a buttery cut into the rock and newspaper pasted on a bedroom wall for insulation, and it is shown much as it was. Coleridge and De Quincey visited constantly, and De Quincey took the tenancy after them. The family graves are in St Oswald's churchyard under yews the poet planted. The Jerwood centre next door holds the manuscripts.

What you actually see

• The cottage rooms - dark, low spaces shown as the household used them.
• The newspapered wall - insulation pasted up in an upstairs bedroom.
• The family graves - Wordsworth burials under yews he planted at St Oswald's.
• The manuscript collection - journals and drafts held next door at the Jerwood.

When to go

April to October for the village at its best; daffodils along the lake in April are the obvious season. Grasmere is busy in summer and much calmer on winter weekdays, when the cottage is quieter.

Honest expectations

The cottage is small and visits are on timed tickets with limited numbers, so booking matters. The rooms are dark and cramped by design and the ceilings are low. Grasmere parking is charged, limited and full by late morning in season.

Nearby

Rydal Mount, Wordsworth's later home, is a short drive; Ambleside lies south.