Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount (William Wordsworth’s homes):

Dove Cottage resides on the edge of the lovely village of Grasmere in Lake District. It is most well-known as the home of the famous poet Williams Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy Wordsworth during the time period between 1799 and 1808, where he wrote many of his famous poems which we remember him for today. It is widely believed that the Dove Cottage was probably built as a public house known as the “Dove and Olive Branch” and remained so until it closed down in 1793 and became a residential area. Wordsworth did, actually, refer to the history of the cottage in his 1806 poem, "The Waggoner", in which the protagonist passes by "Where once the Dove and Olive-bough offered a greeting of good ale to all who entered Grasmere Vale". The place has now been converted into a tourist attraction and a museum dedicated to Wordsworth and his works has been built adjacent to the cottage as an addition to serve educational and tourism purposes.

Rydal Mount is the other of William Wordsworth’s two homes where he moved to after he moved out of Dove Cottage in search of a larger residence to accommodate his expanding family. This is where he lived from then on till his death in 1850. Both the Grasmere and Windermere lakes can be seen from the hillside grounds of Rydal Mount. Wordsworth had a “Writing Hut” built at near the house where it overlooked the lakes and spent most of his time here completing his works. Though this place still remains in the ownership of Wordsworth’s descendents, it has been open to the public since the 1970s. Apart from the educational and cultural values it offers, this Rydal Mount also overlooks two of the largest lakes in the region, and it is no wonder why many tourists are attracted to this place.