{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{short description|19th-century home of William Wordsworth}} [[Image:Rydal Mount.jpg|thumb|right|Rydal Mount, where the poet William Wordsworth lived]]
'''Rydal Mount''' is a house in the small village of Rydal, near Ambleside in the English Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 to his death in 1850, and his sister, the author, poet, and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, until her death in 1855. It is currently operated as a writer's home museum.
==History== Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth in Cumberland in 1770, and knew the Lake District well from his childhood. He moved away to study at the University of Cambridge in 1787, and then travelled in Britain and continental Europe for 12 years. He spent over 8 years at Dove Cottage in nearby Grasmere from 1799 to 1808, but was forced to move to accommodate his growing family and many visitors. After a period in Allan Bank in Grasmere, the Wordsworths moved to Rydal Mount in 1813 which remained their home until their deaths.<ref name="auto">{{NHLE|num=1271835|desc=Rydal Mount|grade=I|access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref>
Both Grasmere and Windermere lakes can be seen from the hillside grounds of Rydal Mount. William designed the layout of the gardens at Rydal, and he often said that those grounds were his office as opposed to the spacious office/writing room in his house. On the high side of the grounds, tucked away from the main house, but overlooking both the grounds and the two nearby lakes, he built the "Writing Hut" where he spent most of his writing time. This hut consisted merely of a bench with a small roof, but it provided shelter from the frequent rains and escape from the house. He frequently was visited by Samuel Taylor Coleridge who would walk down from his home in Keswick.
Wordsworth died in 1850 and Mary in 1859.<ref name="auto"/> Rydal Mount was acquired in 1969 by Mary Henderson (''née'' Wordsworth), William's great great granddaughter, and it was opened to the public in 1970. In 2025, its owners put Rydal Mount on the market.<ref>{{cite news|title=Home of poet William Wordsworth up for sale|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2x85zy3zko/|agency=BBC|date=1 April 2025}}</ref>. In 2026, it was bought by the Wordsworth Trust.<ref>{{cite news|title=Trust buys home of poet William Wordsworth|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kgkzljk33o/|agency=BBC|date=18 March 2026}}</ref> Rydal Mount is a Grade I listed building.<ref name="auto"/>
== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Image:RydalMount.jpg|A panoramic photograph of Rydal Mount Image:RydalMount1.jpg|Gardens landscaped by William Wordsworth Image:Wordsworth Plaque.jpg|A commemorative plaque in the poet's house by John Shaw </gallery>
== See also == {{portal|Cumbria}} * Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria * Listed buildings in Lakes, Cumbria * Rydal Hall * Rydal Water * Dora's Field
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Rydal Mount}} * {{Official website|http://www.rydalmount.co.uk/}} *[http://www.english-lakes.com/rydal_mount.html Rydal Mount Guide to the Lake District]
{{William Wordsworth}} {{coord|54.4487|-2.9824|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
Category:Museums established in 1970 Category:Gardens in Cumbria Category:Historic house museums in Cumbria Category:Biographical museums in Cumbria Category:Literary museums in England Category:Poetry museums Category:Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria Category:William Wordsworth Category:Tourist attractions in Cumbria Category:1970 establishments in England Category:Grade I listed houses Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in Cumbria