Allan Bank - National Trust Property

Allan Bank is a large Georgian house overlooking the village of Grasmere, once home to the late poet William Wordsworth. The house is perched on a rocky hillside above the village with the view of a craggy fell behind.

In 1808, Wordsworth and his wife Mary moved into Allan bank with their three children. Also living with them was Mary’s sister and their literacy acquaintances, Thomas De Quincy and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They lived in the house for two years but moved out shortly after as the chimneys smoked excessively and arguments with the landlord took place. The house was brought in 1915 by Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, a founder of the National Trust. He brought the house after he retired and spent his retirement in the picturesque village of Grasmere. The house was left to the National Trust in 1920 after his passing.

In March 2011, a huge fire broke out at Allan Bank, one of the largest fires Grasmere has ever seen. After the fire, the National Trust decided that the house should be restored and open to the public. The house has undergone an extensive restoration project with the building being left as a blank canvas for visitors to decide it’s future.

Jeremy Barlow, the National Trust’s General Manager for the Central and East Lakes, explained how visitors can influence the appearance of the house;

“This won’t be like other historic houses – you won’t find Wordsworth’s spectacles laid on a desk in his study. In each of the rooms we’ve given our visitors hints about the fascinating history of this lovely home and the chance to be creative in the way so many of it’s former occupants were.

Each of the rooms of the house has been given a theme. The framed artists of the Heaton Copper family, who have a gallery in Grasmere village, have helped create the art room where visitors will be inspired by sketches of Allan Bank and the Lake District. In the room where Wordsworth once slept, we’ll be encouraging visitors to help us design the planting of the gardens, while song lyrics and famous quotes will inspire the writing on the wall – literally – in the literature room. Interior designers can get arty and even help influence the future paint colours of the interior, and there will be some intriguing ways of bringing the outdoors indoors in yet another of the interactive rooms”.

The house is open most days during the summer and only a short period during winter. To avoid disappointment please check the opening times through the link provided.

To find out more about Allan Bank and to plan your visit, visit:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/allan-bank-and-grasmere