A consortium of actors, writers and artists is leading a campaign to save the Lake District home of William Wordsworth for the nation.
Brian Cox, Tom Conti, Miriam Margolyes, Paul McGann and Mark McGann and screenwriter and children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce are among those calling for Rydal Mount to be saved as a site of literary heritage.
They are hoping to enlist the help of institutes, academies and financial backers who will protect the house and gardens for future generations.
Rydal Mount, which dates from the 16th century, was the home of Wordsworth, the most famous of the Romantic Poets, for most of his life, from 1813 until his death in 1850. and it was from here that he published what is arguably the most famous poem in the English language – I wandered lonely as a cloud.
Wordsworth rented the house, but in the late 1960s it was bought by his descendants from the Le Fleming estate. Since then they have opened it to the public for 10 months a year.
But current owners Christopher Wordsworth Andrew says that he and his brother Simon Bennie have taken the decision to sell the house, near Windermere, because they both live and work in the South of England.
The cost of keeping the house going and open to the public has become prohibitive and the number of visitors has dropped off since Covid.
It is on the market for offers over £2.5 million.
The Grade I listed property has five acres of grounds which were designed by Wordsworth himself, and the Wordsworth family and their gardeners The entire grounds are open to visitors, and there is a popular small tea room on the site.
The house has also hosted poetry readings, writers’ workshops, music recitals, travelling theatre companies and festive events, and is a wedding venue.
It was on the itinerary for many famous visitors, from Samuel Taylor Coleridge who would walk from Keswick to visit William Wordsworth, to the late Sir Terry Wogan and more recently actors Brian Cox, Geraldine James, Paul McGann, Mark McGann and comedian Alistair McGowan.
Charlotte Wontner, Wordsworth’s great-great-great-great-granddaughter and a film producer and founder of Hopscotch Films, is enlisting support from across the arts spectrum to persuade financial backers to step in and help preserve the house and gardens.
“Wordsworth means so much to so many people in the arts world and they are keen to come on board,” she said.
Both Brian Cox and Tom Conti have been visitors there.
Brian Cox said: “This is a plea for Rydal Mount, the home of William Wordsworth. Today, April 23, is the 175th anniversary of Wordsworth’s death and 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.”
Tom Conti said: “Rydal Mount is inherently important to the Lake District and it’s vital to British history that it remains open to visitors.
“If it’s taken over by someone who doesn’t care and who won’t open the door to the public then it’s gone forever. People come from all over the world to seek a sense of the spirit of Wordsworth. We must try to keep it for future generations.”
Miriam Margoyles sent a message of support, saying: “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.”
Children’s Laureate Frank-Cottrell Boyce, who is a screenwriter and novelist as well as award-winning writer of children’s books is also calling for people with financial backing to come on board and save the house.
Actor Paul McGann said: “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.”
His brother actor, director and writer Mark McGann said: “Rydal Mount should, I believe, be on the bucket list of anyone with an interest in British culture and history, or any lover of literature interested in how one of our most influential literary figures captured for posterity the environment in which he lived in such a timeless and transcendent way. It is quite simply a property of the utmost national importance.”
Charlotte said: “There is so much love for Rydal Mount and the gardens within the literary and arts community, conservation and environmental groups, gardening professionals and enthusiasts, educational establishments and the general public who visit again and again from all over the country and across the globe. 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.”
Stephen Threlfall, artistic director of Lake District Music, said: “It’s been my pleasure to hold a variety of events both inside and outside of Rydal Mount. Given the long and significant history of the house, we should do all we can to help keep this house of national significance open. I am sure that I and many others concerned with the heritage and cultural welfare of the region would do everything possible to support the family and its staff in helping to preserve Rydal Mount for the Wordsworth family and the nation.”
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Vicky Robinson MBE, a leading patron of the arts in Cumbria, founding president of the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, and chair of the Lakeland Book of the Year awards, said: “Rydal Mount is of great importance to British literary heritage and should be regarded as a national treasure for its contribution to the artistic excellence and values of this country.”
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