A group of actors, writers and artists are leading a campaign to ‘save’ the Lake District home of William Wordsworth.
Stars of stage and screen Brian Cox, Tom Conti, Miriam Margolyes, and Paul and Mark McGann, along with the screenwriter and children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, are among those calling for Rydal Mount to be retained as a site of literary heritage.
Article by Matthew Holmes.
This comes after it was announced last month that the property near Ambleside had been put up for sale with an asking price of over £2.5million.
The Grade 1 listed property has five acres of grounds which were designed by Wordsworth himself. The poet lived there from 1813 up until his death in 1850.
It has been open to the public for decades but visitor numbers have dropped post-Covid.
The poet’s descendant Christopher Wordsworth said it was getting ‘harder and harder’ to manage the property remotely and that the decision to put it on the market had been ‘difficult’.
The group is hoping to enlist the help of institutes, academies and financial backers who will protect the house and gardens for future generations.
Brian Cox with Wordsworth descendant Charlotte Wontner at the poet’s former home (Image: Submitted)
Cox, speaking on the 175th anniversary of Wordsworth’s death on April 23, said: “It would be good to remind us all of who Wordsworth was, and to save Rydal Mount.
“Rydal Mount is important – it is important in Wordsworth’s literary history and we have to save it.
“It’s too often we are losing our incredible links with the past and this is one major link to the past that we cannot lose.”
Rydal Mount was placed on the market last month (Image: Submitted)
Paul McGann, famed for his role in the Doctor Who universe, commented: “Wordsworth described Rydal Mount as ‘the loveliest spot man hath ever found’.
“I felt the same when visiting last year – it would be a tragedy if the public were no longer able to experience this beautiful and inspiring place.”
Margolyes, meanwhile, who portrayed Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, showed her support by adding that the ‘treasure belongs to the nation’.
“This forthcoming sale of Rydal Mount is a mistake. It can be stopped. This treasure belongs to the nation – as much as does William Wordsworth,” she said.
The campaign has been spearheaded by Charlotte Wontner, a descendant of Wordsworth and the founder of Hopscotch Films.
It is hoped that financial backing will be secured to protect the building’s legacy (Image: Submitted)
“Wordsworth means so much to so many people in the arts world and they are keen to come on board,” she explained.
“The doors were always open to visitors in the poet’s day and I think it is more important than ever that this continues in these challenging times.”
Further support is coming from leading figures in the region including Stephen Threlfall, artistic director of Lake District Music, and Vicky Robinson MBE, founding President of Theatre by the Lake in Keswick.
Original article in NW Mail 24th April 2025