The
Other
Bennet
Sister
at
Wordsworth Grasmere
Discover the poetry, objects and people behind the BBC series
Through poetry, journals, woodland walks and hidden garden corners, experience Wordsworth Grasmere through the objects and landscapes that inspired The Other Bennet Sister.
Dress in Regency costume, read poetry in the Garden-Orchard, explore the Woodland trail and discover the poetry that opened Mary’s imagination to the healing power of nature.
The Other Bennet Sister Trail
A self guided experience at Wordsworth Grasmere
1
Read from ‘Lyrical Ballads’ in the Front Kitchen and find ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ upstairs.
2
Sit amongst the flowers with a copy of ‘Lyrical Ballads’, take photographs in Regency dress.
3
Follow the Woodland path uphill and experience the landscape as Dorothy Wordsworth did 200 years ago.
4
Hidden amongst the flowers is a slate inscribed with lines from Wordsworth’s poem ‘She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways’.
5
See the first edition of ‘Lyrical Ballads’ in its original board covers, as Mary would have known it and discover how Wordsworth pressed the ‘re-set button on English poetry’.
1. Dove Cottage
Discover the place where radical poetry was written, read and shared.
Read from Lyrical Ballads in the Front Kitchen and find ‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ upstairs.
Try on Regency-inspired bonnets and accessories and immerse yourself in the world of the Wordsworths.
2. Garden-Orchard
Sit amongst the flowers with a copy of Lyrical Ballads, take photographs in Regency dress, or prepare for adventure with stretches inspired by Mary’s Scafell Pike climb in The Other Bennet Sister.
3. Woodland Walk
Follow the Woodland path uphill and experience the landscape as Dorothy Wordsworth did 200 years ago.
Dorothy was one of the Lake District’s early women mountaineers and climbed Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, in 1818.
Take a moment to rest at the top and enjoy spectacular views across the Vale of Grasmere.
4. 'A violet by a mossy stone'
Hidden amongst the flowers is a slate inscribed with lines from Wordsworth’s poem ‘She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways’:
‘A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!’
Take time to look closely and discover beauty in unexpected places.
5. Museum
Discover how Wordsworth pressed the ‘re-set button on English poetry’ and how his perspective on life is still inspiring 250 years after his birth.
See the first edition of Lyrical Ballads in its original board covers, as Mary would have known it, alongside first editions of Poems in Two Volumes, A Guide to the Lakes, and Dorothy Wordsworth’s Grasmere journal. You can even have a go at writing with quill and ink!
Walk with Dorothy
Inspired by Dorothy’s love of walking and observation?
Continue exploring the landscapes she loved with the Dorothy Wordsworth Walks app featuring routes inspired by Dorothy’s journals and journeys through the Lake District.
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From the blog
The Legacy of William and Dorothy Wordsworth in The Other Bennet Sister
The Legacy of William and Dorothy Wordsworth in The Other Bennet Sister
BBC drama sparks renewed interest in William Wordsworth
