Clouds Hill

Lawrence furnished the rooms to his own personal taste and they are much as he left them giving an insight into his life and personality. Discover a reading room lined with books, a huge leather day bed and a custom made reading chair, a music room housing Lawrence’s gramophone and its huge horn as well as his original writing desk, a bathroom with no toilet and a bunkroom lined with tin foil.

Uncover the story of how one of the world's biggest celebrities turned his back on privilege and fame and found solace in friendship, music and the written word. Having safely reopened after being closed for some time, our expert guides are back at the cottage and on hand to talk you through these unique stories.

Lawrence made Clouds Hill a welcoming place where there were no rigid rules of behaviour, apart from no alcohol. Over the door is carved a Greek inscription (OU PHRONTIS) from a story by Herodotus. It can be translated as ‘Don’t worry.’ When you were at the cottage you were encouraged to be yourself, to forget your worries and problems.

Music was very important to Lawrence, and his gramophones were among the finest of the time. The gramophone now in the cottage, his last, was made by E.M.Ginn of Soho Square, London. Lawrence had a wide ranging taste in music, his preference being for orchestral and chamber music, but he also explored the work of contemporary composers. His state-of-the-art-wind-up-gramophone used fibre needles for the best sound quality and if a record ever became noticeably worn he would replace it.

Clouds Hill once housed an extraordinary library assembled by Lawrence, including a remarkable fine-print collection, as well as prose, poetry and books in Greek, Latin and French - all of which he read. His books were his most treasured possession, and upon Lawrence’s death, they were one of the most valuable assets of his estate, listed and then sold by his executors.