Rydal Mount Gardens

Rydal Mount is the house in the small village of Rydal, near Ambleside, where William Wordsworth lived from 1813 until his death in 1850. Its garden matters as much as the house: Wordsworth designed and landscaped the five acres of hillside grounds himself, and often said they were his real office rather than the study indoors. Please note that Rydal Mount is currently closed while the Wordsworth Trust, which bought it in March 2026, carries out surveys, conservation assessments and planning for its future.

When it was open, the grounds were the heart of a visit. From the hillside, both Windermere and Grasmere can be seen, and on the high side of the garden, away from the house, Wordsworth built a simple writing hut, little more than a bench with a small roof, where he spent much of his writing time sheltered from the rain. The grounds also contain a summerhouse and an outbuilding known as Dora Wordsworth's Schoolroom, named after the poet's eldest daughter.

For gardeners and poetry lovers alike, Rydal Mount is a rare chance to see a garden laid out by a major writer to suit the way he worked, with views and quiet corners rather than showy planting. While it is closed, the nearest way to explore Wordsworth's Lake District is Dove Cottage and the museum at Wordsworth Grasmere, about two miles away, which are run by the same Trust and have their own garden-orchard and woodland. Keep an eye on the Trust's website for news of Rydal Mount's reopening.