A direct descendant of William Wordsworth has spoken of his sadness of having to put the poet’s house up for sale, writes Mike Glover.
Christopher Wordsworth Andrew says and his brother Simon Bennie have taken the decision to sell Rydal Mount, 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.
Rydal Mount and Gardens is looking for offers over £2.5 million.
The celebrated poet lived at Rydal Mount for most of his life, from 1813 until his death in 1850.
It was the third and longest-lived in of his three homes in the Lake District, the others being Dove Cottage and Allan Bank, both near Grasmere.
He never owned Rydal Mount, instead renting it from the Baron of Rydal, Sir Richard Le Fleming.
But he made the 16th century, Grade I listed home sits with five acres of grounds very much his own. The gardens remain largely as they were designed by the poet.
When the Le Fleming family sold the property, to pay off death duties, in 1969, it was bought by Mary Henderson, the great-great-granddaughter of William Wordsworth.
When she died in 1992, she left it to her grandsons, Christopher, then just 18, and Simon.
“I don’t even want to think about having to sell it,” said Christopher, now 51. “It is extremely sad. I have been coming up to Rydal eight or nine times a year, and every time I think ‘why don’t I live here?’, it is so beautiful.
“But the truth is that all of the family live south of Oxford,” said Christopher a financier in wealth management.
“It has become harder and harder to run from afar. As it is privately owned, if there are any shortfalls, it comes out of our pockets and it has been very difficult since Covid.”
He says the house used to have around 45,000 visitors a year and now has 20,000 or fewer.
The property and grounds have had live in curators and has been open to the public and used for events. It remains open for the 2025 season.
It is also full of objects related to the Wordsworth family, including the seat the poet liked to sit in while composing his poems.
Christopher says the contents will be divided up among the wider family.
The property is being marketed by Windermere-based Ashdown Jones.
Rydal Mount is the only home to feature views of both Windermere and Rydal Water.
Entry to the house is through an arched porch, before stepping through the glazed front door into a wide hallway.
There are four reception rooms, seven bedrooms in the main house and two additional bedrooms in a separate annexe, which is currently used as a holiday let.
Dora’s School Room, once a place of learning for Wordsworth’s beloved daughter, is now a tearoom.
Outside, Rydal Mount also has Grade II listed outbuildings, a summer house, an ancient mound, and extensive parking.
