This week on My Poetic Side we look at the sale of Wordsworth’s home and the painting being installed in a church to honour a poet.
Rare Opportunity to Own Piece of Literary History
Rydal Mount, the property where the poet William Wordsworth lived for the majority of his life, from 1813 until his death in 1850 has been placed on the market by his descendants in the last week.
The property, which can be found on Rightmove, has been put up for sale with an asking price of offers over £2.5 million. Rydal Mount, which is located near Windermere in the Lake District has seen visitor numbers dropping in recent years. In fact, they have never really recovered since Covid, and the poet’s descendants feel they have no choice but to put the property on the market.
Rydal Mount was the third of the poet’s properties in the Lake District, and his longest-lived. The other two properties are Dove Cottage and Allan Bank both of which are located near Grasmere.
Whilst the property is now owned by the poet’s family, he himself never actually owned it. He rented it from Sir Richard Le Fleming, the Baron of Rydal. However, he loved the 16th century property so much that he made it and the five acres of grounds his own for the duration of his time there. The current gardens remain on the whole just as they were designed by Wordsworth.
The property has seven-bedrooms was purchased by the great-great-granddaughter of the poet in 1969 when the LE Fleming family sold it to pay off death duties. On her death in 1992, it was left to her grandsons. Talking about their decision to sell, one of the grandsons confessed that it had been a difficult decision. The family had spent many happy holidays in the property but running it as a business was becoming increasingly difficult due to rising costs and also the fact that most of the family were not on hand all the time as they all live down south.
The property used to attract around 45,000 visitors a year. However, this number has dropped to around 20,000. In addition to being open to the public is also used for events and this will continue until the end of the 2025 season.
The sale is being described as a
Painting Dedicated to Poet to be Installed in Church
A painting dedicated to the Welsh poet and Nobel Prize nominee RS Thomas is to be installed in the St Hywyns Church Aberdaron where he served as a preacher in his final years.
The triptych, which has been painted by Terry Duffy, an internationally acclaimed artist will be installed above the alter. Inspired by the poet’s own work the trio of paintings will consider the themes of the “Abyss”.
As part of what will be the 11th annual festival of Poetry and Arts, which will celebrate the works of RS Thomas and ME Eldridge (an acclaimed artist who was also the poet’s wife), Duffy will give a talk on his own artwork. This will explore the inspiration behind the triptych and the role that art, poetry and philosophy have when they cross. The festival will take place from 12-15 June across a number of venues in Aberdaron and Pwllheli.
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