Visiting the garden at Wordsworth House

Two visitors wearing sun hats are sat reading books in the sunny garden at Wordsworth House. Brightly coloured flowers are in bloom and the back of the house is visible. — Relaxing in the sunny garden at Wordsworth House, Cumbria | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Wordsworth House’s walled riverside garden was William’s secret childhood playground. It was here that he learned the love of nature that turned him into one of the world’s favourite poets. With hidden corners perfect for peaceful musings and a changing display of colours throughout the seasons, you are sure to find your own moment of inspiration.

Summer in the garden

Summer is the time for roses at Wordsworth House. There is a range of beautiful old-fashioned shrub roses growing in the garden, and they are a real highlight in June and July, not just visually but also because of the fragrant scents that waft from them. Grown using organic principles, the garden provides a haven for our pollinators and is full of bees, who are loving the wildflower beds with their poppies and marigolds and can be found happily plunging into the foxgloves. Colour and scent are both appreciated in any garden, but the gentle hum of bumblebees as they go about their daily task of foraging pollen and nectar is, if you take the time to stop and listen, an absolute pleasure.

There are plenty of whimsical photograph opportunities in the garden during the summer. It has a secret garden feeling, also wonderful for photographing children at play with our wooden Georgian garden games or at rest under the apple trees.

The Keswick codlin, one of our local heritage apple trees, is coming into fruit while the Morello cherries and figs are ripening on the espaliers. The Georgian herb and vegetable garden is slowly filling out as the summer months go by, giving a hint of what might have found its way to Wordsworth’s table.

Bright pink roses in the garden with views of Wordsworth house in the background — Bright roses throughout the garden bring a touch of romance | © Zoe Gilbert

The garden that inspired a poet

Wordsworth House’s walled riverside garden was William’s secret childhood playground. It was here that he learned the love of nature that turned him into one of the world’s favourite poets.

Today, it is filled with the colours, scents and sounds of summer. Wandering ‘lonely as a cloud’ among centuries-old varieties of flowers and fruit trees it isn’t hard to picture the wild child born here 250 years ago and how his ‘sweet birthplace’ inspired a lifetime of creativity.

Beneath the foliage-shrouded terrace where he and his beloved sister Dorothy used to play, the Derwent, his ‘fairest of all rivers’, gurgles by.

A display of red poppies in the garden at Wordsworth House during the summer — A delicate display of poppies in the garden at Wordsworth House | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

A piece of history

A fine example of a working Georgian walled garden, the Wordsworth's garden has been presented, to the best of our knowledge, as it may have been when William and Dorothy played games along the flower beds. This little green oasis was strongly associated with the happy childhood of these famous siblings who later recalled fond memories of playing outdoors on their riverside terrace walk, where closely clipped privet and roses ‘gave an almost impervious shelter to birds that built their nests there’. It is also significant as a rare survivor of 18th century walled town-house gardens in the north of England.

Despite the ravages of serious flooding in 2009 and 2015, the garden of Wordsworth House has been painstakingly restored and replanted to return it to it's Georgian splendour, with the clipped formality of the front garden contrasting with an abundance of 18th-century varieties of fruit, vegetables, herbs and cut flowers cultivated in the shelter of the warm brick-faced walls to the rear.

Visitor readying a book while relaxing among the heritage roses in Wordsworth House garden — Relaxing among the heritage roses in Wordsworth House garden | © National Trust Images / Val Corbett

A space for people and nature

Walking off the busy streets of Cockermouth and into the green and blossoming garden inspires an instant feeling of ease. The surrounding walls covered in espaliered trees and rose bushes act as a perfect sound barrier and the free and easy way the garden grows with it's gentle structure and design invites you to step right in and make yourself at home. You will also often find our friendly volunteers who are more than happy to answer your question and share their knowledge. To make sure birds and pollinating insects also feel welcome, our head gardener Amanda uses organic principles throughout the garden and has specially selected local wildflowers and herbs to entice bees and butterflies to feast. The winter months are no time to be tidy as leftover apples, piles of dead leaves and leftover stems and sticks provide shelter and food for wildlife. It is only with the first signs of spring that the tidying begins so that the garden is ready for our first visitors. With blooms and blossoms from the first snowdrops and crocuses in late winter all the way to bright swaying sneezeweed in autumn, there is always something for both people and nature to enjoy.

An oasis in the heart of Cockermouth

Take a look into this quiet blossoming garden and listen to our head gardener Amanda as she shares her passion for organic gardening and the particular history of William Wordsworth's beloved childhood playground.

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