Rydal Mount - Old Engraving

Wordsworths at Rydal Mount 1840

The image depicts William and Mary Wordsworth at their home at Rydal Mount, Ambleside in the Lake District.  They lived here from 1813 with three of their five children (Thomas, their six year old son, and Catherine, their four year old daughter, had both died the year previous).   Much of his poetry for which he is so famous was written before moving to Rydal Mount.     Poems he did write here include 'To a Snowdrop', 'Surprised by Joy',  'The Longest Day', and the final version of 'The Daffodils'.   Each spring the gardens are full of daffodils.   William lived here until his death at the age of 80 in 1850.

Rydal Mount was a tudor cottage which was added to in 1750.  The drawing room and library depicted in this image were part of this extension.  The house is still owned by the Wordsworth family and is open to the public.

The original image titles this as a "Room at Rydal Mount".

The image is taken from a Steel Engraving print by W. Westall, A.R.A.

It was published by Edward Moxon, Dover Street, London in 1840.