Wordsworth Grasmere

08/09/2026

📚An Evening with Larry Lamb

📅Wednesday 23 September, 6.30-8pm at Wordsworth Grasmere

🎫Tickets: £20 - book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/larry-lamb/

Join actor, writer, presenter and poet Larry Lamb for an intimate and entertaining evening at Wordsworth Grasmere as he shares poems and memories in conversation with Tim Robertson, Trustee of the Wordsworth Trust and former Director of the Royal Society of Literature. Throughout the evening Larry will read from his own poetry alongside selected poems by William Wordsworth, exploring shared themes of childhood, memory, nature, family, and creativity.

Set in our prestigious library and archive next door to Dove Cottage and home to over 90% of Wordsworth’s original verse manuscripts, Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere journal and rare editions by Wordsworth and his contemporaries, including Byron, Coleridge, Keats, Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft.

The evening will be followed by a drinks reception and book signing in the Museum atrium and Shop, including the opportunity to visit our special exhibition ‘Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination’. Copies of Larry’s autobiography will be available to buy, alongside other books and gifts, from the Museum Shop.

About Larry Lamb

British actor, author, and radio presenter Larry Lamb has enjoyed a career spanning several decades. His work in theatre ranges from Broadway and West End productions to appearances at the RSC, the National Theatre and the principal fringe theatres in London. Cinema and TV work including most recently his acting roles in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and the multi-award winning Gavin & Stacey have made him a well-known personality throughout the UK.

He published his memoir 'Mummy’s Boy' in 2011 and a debut novel 'All wrapped up' in 2025. He is currently working on a collection of his poetry to be published in 2027.

08/09/2026

'Very rainy. The Clarksons left us after dinner—still rainy. We walked towards Rydale, & then to Mr Olliff's gate a fine evening.'

Dorothy Wordsworth's Grasmere journal, 8 September 1800

07/09/2026

📚The Wordsworth Lecture: William and Dorothy Wordsworth at Rydal

📅Friday 9 October, 7pm at the British Library

🎫Tickets: £12

Join us for a landmark Wordsworth Lecture at the British Library as the Wordsworth Trust celebrates its acquisition of Rydal Mount, final home of William Wordsworth, ‘the poet who changed the world’. This special event will illuminate the lives, writings, and enduring legacy of William and Dorothy Wordsworth at Rydal.

Featuring Professor Sir Jonathan Bate, Chair of the Wordsworth Trust, in conversation with Professor Tim Fulford, author of Experimentalism in Wordsworth’s Later Poetry, and Dr Jessica Fay, editor of The Poetry of Dorothy Wordsworth.

Book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/wordsworth-lecture-2026/



Image: Undated drawing of Rydal Mount, thought to be by Edward Quillinan (1791–1851)

04/09/2026

The evenings are still light and the flowers are blooming, but summer is coming to an end - and with it, our summer opening hours.

We are open every day this week from 10am-5pm up to and including Sunday 6 September. After this we are open:

📍 Dove Cottage, Museum and Café
🗓️ Tuesday-Saturday
⌚️ 10am – 4pm

🎟️ Pay once, return free for 12 months
💷 Big savings on Family Tickets
🖼️ Visit our new exhibition 'Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination'
🪶 Fun things to do for everyone - whatever the weather
🔗 Book online – https://wordsworth.org.uk/

Enjoy your perfect Lake District day out at Wordsworth Grasmere

In 1799 William Wordsworth arrived in Grasmere aged 29, largely unknown and writing innovative poetry in a new style. Whilst living at Dove Cottage with his family, Wordsworth wrote many of his greatest poems and his sister Dorothy kept her Grasmere journal. Visit Dove Cottage & Wordsworth Museum in Grasmere and discover the story of this remarkable time in their lives.

With so much to do, you’ll lose track of time – our immersive experience has something for everyone, whatever the weather.

01/09/2026

Tonight! Will we see you there? Tickets: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

The cut-off for online bookings is 5pm; tickets available on the door.

Just one week to go!

📚Simon Armitage: An Evening in Grasmere🌙

📅Tuesday 1 September, 7.30pm at The Daffodil Hotel & Spa

Tickets: £20

Join Poet Laureate Simon Armitage for an unmissable poetry reading in Grasmere. The event will take place at the Daffodil Hotel – on the shore of Grasmere lake and only a short walk from Dove Cottage, where former Poet Laureate William Wordsworth wrote some of his greatest poetry.

Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A recipient of numerous prizes and awards, his collections include Magnetic Field (2020), Never Good with Horses (2023), Blossomise (2024) and Dwell (2025).

Copies of Simon Armitage’s books will be on sale (cash and card) with a book signing following the reading. Drinks will be available from the Lobby Bar.

Book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

01/09/2026

After a summer of Gothic heroines, we now open the next volume of our year-long Gothic events programme…

VOLUME II: MONSTERS
September-October 2026

✨After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Monsters✨
📆Thursday 24 September, 22 October, 29 October, 6.30-8pm, £30pp
Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This autumn the theme is monsters: the human and inhuman monsters of Gothic horror, with a focus on those found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Last Man and the works that inspired them.
🎫12 places available each night: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters/

✨Gothic Monsters: A Loose Leaf Poetry Workshop✨
📆Saturday 19 September, 2.30-3.30pm, £7pp
This relaxed creative writing workshop explores the monstrous characters and settings found in iconic Gothic works such as Frankenstein and Dracula, and considers the ways in which Gothic writers used monsters as a lens through which to examine human nature.
🎫12 places available: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters-workshop/

✨Twilight Tales at Dove Cottage✨
📆21, 26 & 27 October, 4-5.30pm, £10 child, £5 adult
Are you ready for a spooky Halloween? Join us for hot chocolate, gingerbread, and Halloween crafts in our cosy Learning Space. Children will have fun dressing up in Georgian costumes while learning about the Wordsworths and hearing some of their writing. At twilight we’ll all head over to Dove Cottage and listen to some spooky Cumbrian stories. For families with children aged 5+ (younger siblings can also be booked onto this session).
🎫https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/twilight-tales-2026/

🎃And look out for announcements about our Halloween Late event...

26/08/2026

📜 We've just welcomed into the collection three handwritten letters by William Wordsworth!

Recently acquired at Christie's auction in London, these fascinating letters offer new insight into the poet's life, family and political views.

🎥In this video, our Curator takes a closer look at what these letters can tell us, and why they matter.

Purchased with the generous support of Friends of the Nations' Libraries and a private supporter, these letters will eventually go on display at Wordsworth Grasmere.

25/08/2026

We are truly delighted to welcome three newly-arrived manuscript letters, written jointly by William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and Sara Hutchinson, to our collection here at Grasmere.
ITV Border and Fiona Marley Paterson ITV Border joined us to take a closer look:
https://www.itv.com/watch/news/newly-acquired-letters-shed-fresh-light-on-life-and-politics-of-poet-william-wordsworth/200br4g

Our very grateful thanks go to the Friends of the Nations' Libraries, and a private supporter, for making this wonderful acquisition possible.

25/08/2026

Just one week to go!

📚Simon Armitage: An Evening in Grasmere🌙

📅Tuesday 1 September, 7.30pm at The Daffodil Hotel & Spa

Tickets: £20

Join Poet Laureate Simon Armitage for an unmissable poetry reading in Grasmere. The event will take place at the Daffodil Hotel – on the shore of Grasmere lake and only a short walk from Dove Cottage, where former Poet Laureate William Wordsworth wrote some of his greatest poetry.

Simon Armitage is Professor of Poetry at the University of Leeds. A recipient of numerous prizes and awards, his collections include Magnetic Field (2020), Never Good with Horses (2023), Blossomise (2024) and Dwell (2025).

Copies of Simon Armitage’s books will be on sale (cash and card) with a book signing following the reading. Drinks will be available from the Lobby Bar.

Book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/simon-armitage-2026/

21/08/2026

⚡️After Hours at Dove Cottage: Gothic Monsters 🌙
📆Thursday 24th September, 22nd October & 29th October, 6.30-8pm

‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?’
― Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A spellbinding evening of Gothic tales in candlelit Dove Cottage.

Discover the origins of modern horror and fantasy fiction in this bewitching storytelling event. This time the theme is MONSTERS: the human and inhuman monsters of Gothic horror, with a focus on those found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Last Man and the works that inspired them.

The evening begins with a themed tour of Ghost Story! Into the Gothic Imagination. Find out about the monsters and monstrous in the books, manuscripts and artworks in the exhibition, including characters from works by Mary Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After exploring the exhibition, gather around the hearth in Dove Cottage for performed readings from some of these terrifying tales.

🎫 This special event is designed for adults, with a total group size of no more than 12 people. Tickets £30, book now: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/gothic-monsters/