History of Clouds Hill

A modest cottage

Clouds Hill takes its name from a hilly area of heathland in Dorset. A modest, two-storey rectangular structure with a hipped roof, it was built in 1808 and originally occupied by a farm labourer and his family. It sits on land then owned by the Frampton family, who had created plantations of larch and fir nearby. Later it was home to a succession of woodmen until about 1913, by which time the army camp at Bovington had been established and the timber would soon be harvested for the war effort. 

 

Lawrence had very little money and he often gave away what he had. Much of the work to the cottage at this time was paid for by the sale of a jambiya or curved dagger, which he had been given by the Arab commander Sherif Nasir after participating in the capture of Aqaba in 1917. The result of the renovation was basic: there was no running water or kitchen. The only usable accommodation was upstairs, and he kept wood for the fire in the main room below. 

 

‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’  

Between 1919 and 1922 Lawrence penned an epic account of his experiences in the Middle East, called ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’. After his days at Bovington Camp, he spent considerable time at the cottage revising the text in what he called his ‘writing room’. He did not want to profit from his war experiences and, beyond a limited subscribers’ edition produced in 1926, and an abridged version that paid for it, he would not allow ‘Seven Pillars’ to be published in his lifetime.  

 

Lawrence corresponded with a wide circle of celebrated literary friends, including his Dorset neighbours, the novelist Thomas Hardy and his wife, Florence, who visited him at Clouds Hill. By this time, Hardy was in his 80s and frail, so Lawrence often rode to Dorchester on his Brough motorcycle to visit them at their home, Max Gate.   

 

Lawrence and the RAF 

In 1925, Lawrence rejoined the Royal Air Force. For some people the fact that he, a one-time colonel, was serving in the ranks was shocking; others could not accept that he had simply disappeared from public view. In 1928, while he was serving with the RAF at Miranshah near the Afghan border, false rumours circulated in the press that he was supporting an Afghan rebellion and he had to be sent back home. He was later posted to RAF Cattewater in Plymouth Sound, where he was involved in servicing seaplanes and developing high-speed rescue craft. 

 

His brother Arnold continued the negotiations Lawrence had started to buy the cottage. They were protracted and in 1927 Sergeant Knowles converted the ground floor room to a kitchen to make it attractive to potential tenants. 

 

Purchasing Clouds Hill 

In 1929 Lawrence finally purchased Clouds Hill and five acres surrounding the cottage for the sum of £450. Around this time his finances started to improve. He sold some land he owned in Essex and, in expectation of fees from his translation of Homer’s ‘Odyssey’, he squared his accounts and made further improvements at the cottage. Lawrence calculated that investments would provide him with a modest retirement income. 

 

A modest yet comfortable retirement 

Lawrence anticipated that he would retire from the RAF in 1935, and he increased his efforts to make the cottage comfortable. Among his most ambitious projects were installing the bath and the ram pump which brought in running water from a nearby spring. In 1934 a reservoir was dug on land on the other side of the road, enclosed by a conservatory which incorporated a study and a pair of elaborately carved doors he had brought back from Jeddah in 1921. It was built by Pat Knowles, son of Sergeant Knowles, who had become a good friend.  

 

When Lawrence arrived at the cottage on his bicycle after leaving the RAF, the press were waiting for him and he had to pedal away. He appealed to the proprietors of the national newspapers to leave him alone.  Even in rural Dorset he could not escape public curiosity. 

 

Renovating Clouds Hill 

Lawrence’s appeals were successful, and he was able to finish the transformation of the cottage to satisfy his very individual requirements. He created a bunk room in the character of a ship’s cabin, lined out in aluminium to protect it from damp and with a porthole window obtained from a shipbreaker by a friend. He insulated the bathroom with cork and equipped the cottage with furniture, some of which was made to his own design, such as his fireside chair, bookrest and fender.  

 

The renovation had cost more than Lawrence had envisaged, his investment income was smaller than anticipated, and he could now barely afford to run his beloved motorcycle. But Lawrence had created ‘an earthly paradise’, words he used to describe Clouds Hill in a May 1935 letter to politician Nancy Astor. 

 

Lawrence enjoyed just a few short weeks of his retirement at Clouds Hill. Later that month he was thrown from his motorcycle and died in hospital a few days later. The cottage was presented to the National Trust by Lawrence’s brother Arnold in 1937.  

 

National Trust ownership 

In 1937 Lawrence’s brother Arnold gave Clouds Hill to the National Trust along with much of its contents. The furnishings evoke Lawrence’s sober but particular lifestyle. For his Book Room Lawrence had commissioned a large leather-covered divan for reading. He had designed things like the fenders for the fireplaces, a steel book rest, an iron sconce and an armchair. He also bought unassuming pieces of furniture at local auctions. 

 

A gramophone with a huge horn reflects Lawrence’s love of music. The landscape by Gilbert Spencer set into the panelling of the Music Room was painted while the artist was staying at Clouds Hill. Lawrence modelled for the figure of the soldier sitting on the beach in the painting ‘Portrait of Gray’ by Henry Scott Tuke.