Wordsworth Trust

The Wordsworth Trust is a living memorial set up to celebrate the works of the poet William Wordsworth and his contemporaries. Wordsworth, conscious of the need for poetry to renew itself within a tradition speaks of writing for 'youthful poets' who 'will be my second self when I am gone.'

An organisation set up to celebrate the contemporary as much as remember the past, it offers much in the way of contemporary visual art and poetry readings, alongside the historical home of Wordsworth, Dove Cottage (1799–1808) and a museum featuring relevant portraits and manuscripts.

Since 2000 the Wordsworth Trust has collaborated with Grizedale Arts on artistic projects such as the "We Are Seven Commune Project", which was a month-long residency for seven artists from New York.

Explaining the aims and ideals of the first board of trustees, responsible for opening Dove Cottage to the public, Stopford Brooke wrote, in 1890:

Today, around 70,000 people visit Dove Cottage, The Wordworth Museum and Art Gallery in Grasmere, Lake District, Cumbria each year. They can see how the great poet and his family and friends lived during his most productive and brilliant period. Guided tours of the cottage include a commentary on Wordsworth's life, and visitors are told a selection of anecdotes which bring the experience to life. They can enjoy an exhibition about his life in the Museum and view special exhibitions about related subjects in the Art Gallery.