Alfoxton House
Encyclopedia
Alfoxton House, also known as Alfoxton Park, was built as an 18th century country house in Holford
, Somerset
, England
, within the Quantock Hills
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
. The present house was rebuilt in 1710 after the previous building was destroyed in a fire.
Poet William Wordsworth
and his sister Dorothy
lived at Alfoxton House between July 1797 and June 1798, during the time of their friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge
. Dorothy began her journals here in January 1798 but discontinued it 2 months later to recommence when the couple moved to the Lake District. These were posthumously published as The Alfoxden journal, 1798 and The Grasmere journals, 1800-1803.
The building was refenestrated and re-roofed in the 19th century. It has been changed and extended significantly since the time of the Wordsworths to turn it into a country hotel. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a grade II listed building.
During World War II
it housed evacuees
from Wellington School
.
Holford
Holford is a village and civil parish in West Somerset within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and about west of Bridgwater and east of Williton. The village has a population of about 200. The village is on the Quantock Greenway and Coleridge Way footpaths...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, within the Quantock Hills
Quantock Hills
The Quantock Hills is a range of hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England. The Quantock Hills were England’s first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty being designated in 1956 and consists of large amounts of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land.The hills run from...
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
. The present house was rebuilt in 1710 after the previous building was destroyed in a fire.
Poet William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and his sister Dorothy
Dorothy Wordsworth
Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth was an English author, poet and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close for all of their lives...
lived at Alfoxton House between July 1797 and June 1798, during the time of their friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
. Dorothy began her journals here in January 1798 but discontinued it 2 months later to recommence when the couple moved to the Lake District. These were posthumously published as The Alfoxden journal, 1798 and The Grasmere journals, 1800-1803.
The building was refenestrated and re-roofed in the 19th century. It has been changed and extended significantly since the time of the Wordsworths to turn it into a country hotel. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a grade II listed building.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it housed evacuees
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
from Wellington School
Wellington School, Somerset
Wellington School is a British co-educational independent school in Wellington, Somerset, England catering for both day pupils and boarders. There are currently 750 pupils on roll including 200 students in the sixth form. The Headmaster is Martin Reader....
.