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The Best Literary Spots
Samuel Johnson's House (London; tel. 020/7353-3745): The backwater at no. 17 Gough Sq., situated on the north side of Fleet Street, was Johnson's home from 1748 to 1759. Here he worked on his Rambler essays and his dictionary, and here his beloved wife, "Tetty," died in 1752.
Keats House (London; tel. 020/7435-2062): Most of the poet's brief life was spent in London, where he was born in 1795 in a livery stable run by his father. He moved to Hampstead in 1817 and met his fiancée, Fanny Brawne, there. In this house, he coughed blood into his handkerchief. "That drop of blood is my death warrant," he said. "I must die." He left for Rome in 1820 and died there a year later.
Jane Austen Country: The author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility wrote of rural delights and a civilized society -- set mainly in her beloved Hampshire. In 1809, she moved with her mother to Chawton, 80km (50 miles) south of Bath, where she lived until 1817. Her house is now a museum. Her novels Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are associated with the city of Bath, where she visited frequently in her youth and lived from 1801 to 1806. In her final year, she moved to 8 College St. in Winchester. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral.
Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire): The folks who live in touristy Stratford gleefully peddle Shakespeare's literary legacy, including his birthplace, where the son of a glover was born on April 23, 1564. Anne Hathaway's Cottage, in the hamlet of Shottery, is also popular; Shakespeare married Hathaway when he was only 18 years old.
Sherwood Forest (East Midlands): You won't find Errol Flynn in Technicolor-green tights gallivanting through a forest of mighty oaks with his band of merry men. Although most of the forest has been open grassland since the 14th century, it lives on in legend, literature, and lore as the most famous woodland in the world. At the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre at Edwinstowe, the world of Friar Tuck and Little John lives on.
Grasmere (The Lake District): William Wordsworth lived here with his sister, Dorothy, who commented on the "domestic slip of mountain" behind their home, Dove Cottage. The cottage itself is now part of the Wordsworth Museum, displaying manuscripts and memorabilia. The poet also lived for a time at nearby Rydal Mount, just north of Ambleside (one of his descendants still owns the property), where you can see gardens landscaped by the poet. Throughout the region, you'll find the landscapes that inspired this giant of English romanticism, including the shores of Ullswater, where Wordsworth saw his famous "host of golden daffodils."
Haworth (West Yorkshire): Second only to Stratford-upon-Avon as a major literary pilgrimage site is the home of the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Here the famous Brontë sisters lived and spun their web of romance. Emily wrote Wuthering Heights, Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre and Villette, and even Anne wrote two novels, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey, though neither measures up to her sisters' works.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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