The Time Lab

Wordsworth Grasmere unveils new interactive exhibition

Visitors to a Cumbrian attraction and former home of William Wordsworth can now become part of the museum’s history and legacy by offering up their ‘memories’ as part of a new immersive and interactive exhibition.

Wordsworth Grasmere has today unveiled this new exhibition where until November 2025, all visitors to the museum and Dove Cottage will have an opportunity to become part of history and shape the ever-evolving exhibition.

‘The Time Lab’, is inspired by William Wordsworth’s own explorations of memory as detailed in his great poem, The Prelude. The exhibition, subtitled, ‘Exploring a Living Prelude’ will invite visitors to share memories of their own ‘spots of time’ in Wordsworth Grasmere’s interactive studio laboratory.

Working with artist Stacey Joy Rossouw, visitors will be encouraged to share their memories from throughout their lives; memories that invoked powerful feelings and senses and ones which they believe have shaped their lives today.

Stacey will be working in the Museum between 10am – 3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, listening to visitor memories and translating them into different mediums such as charcoal drawings, sounds, music, animations and moving images. When Stacey is not in residence, visitors can contribute memories by writing them down for Stacey to interpret at a later date.

The fascinating exhibition is an insight into human minds and will continually develop and evolve throughout 2025 before reaching its final outcome in October 2025. Anyone who visits Wordsworth Grasmere is welcome to input their thoughts and can return on multiple occasions to add more memories and explore the exhibition as it grows and shapes itself.

Michael McGregor, Director at Wordsworth Grasmere commented:

“We live in a modern world where everyone is used to leaving their thoughts and memories on social media platforms, but this new exhibition is an opportunity to become part of history alongside one of Britain’s most beloved poets. William Wordsworth spent over eight years at Dove Cottage with his sister Dorothy, during which time the house was also frequented by many other literary geniuses. By leaving memories of their own, our visitors will become part of Wordsworth Grasmere’s legacy.

We are excited to see how this develops. The exhibition in itself is a type of science experiment into the human mind and how people’s thoughts have developed over the centuries. It will be interesting to see how the ‘spots of time’ of today’s people differ from that of Wordsworth who lived in a much simpler era.”

The exhibition is inspired by the journey of William Wordsworth’s masterpiece The Prelude, which was initially completed in 1799 and further developed until just after his death in 1850, when it was published.

Wordsworth described The Prelude as a ‘poem on the growth of my own mind’. His belief was that experiences or ‘spots of time’ happen to everyone and that they aid in the nourishment, development and repair of our minds and creative imaginations.

Wordsworth describes three such incidents or ‘spots of time’ in his autobiographical poem The Prelude as stealing a boat, skating on Windermere and mimicking the hooting of an owl.

Artist and Guest Curator, Stacey Joy Rossouw said:

“As a design student, the idea for the Time Lab didn’t begin in my university library as you might expect, but on my very first drive into Grasmere in 2022. I have vivid memories of that day: flooded roads and waterfalls, towers of green all around me. Stepping into Dove Cottage for my first tour, I was immediately struck by how Wordsworth’s poetry, rooted in this landscape, felt like a powerful response to our modern, data-driven world. That spark then grew through two years of conversations with the wonderful team at Wordsworth Grasmere. Listening to them share their own powerful memories, their ‘spots of time’, I knew my goal was to find a way to communicate the sense of time that Wordsworth invited me into through his life and verses.”

“My research question shifted from asking how we study time to asking, how can we make time together? In response, I’ve designed The Time Lab as a zone of possibility—a space where I can ‘get into the water’ with visitors to learn about time and memory in community. My hope is to create an evolving artwork that honours the connectedness of all things—nature, poetry, and our own vital stories—and to see what new possibilities arise when we explore them together.”

The Time Lab opens to the public on 24 June 2025 and will remain in situ until the end of October 2025. As a continually evolving exhibition, no one visitor will have the same experience, as Stacey continually adapts and updates her works of art.

Tickets to Wordsworth Grasmere cost £16 per adult and £8 for children. Other concessions and family-friendly tickets are available. Tickets last a whole year offering future visits for free.

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