The birthplace of the poet William Wordsworth
Main St, Cockermouth, CA13 9RX -Tel: 01900 824805
The house was built in 1745 for the then High Sheriff of Cumberland, Joshua Lucock. A few years later, in 1761 Sir James Lowther, son of Sir John Lowther who built Whitehaven and its port, bought the house.
John Wordsworth, the poet's father, moved to Cockermouth as agent to Sir James Lowther in 1764, and in 1766 married and moved into this house. Here four sons and a daughter were born - Richard, William on 7 April 1770, Dorothy, John and Christopher. The lafe of William Wordsworth is given separately in more detail
The house carried on as a private dwelling until the 1930's. In 1937 the local bus company bought it, intending to demolish it and build a bus station on the site. This gained national press coverage, and enough money was donated for the town to buy it back. Cockermouth then gave the house to the National Trust in 1938. On June 3rd 1939 it opened as a Wordsworth memorial, becoming a grade 1 listed building. It is open to the public, furnished in contempory style with some of the poets personal effects
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