The mountain and lakeland scenery of the Lake District is what inspired many writers. Best known is William Wordsworth, who was born 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumbria and spent most of his life in the Lake District. You can visit his homes at Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount and see his grave in Grasmere. Thomas de Quincey stayed with the Wordsworth family. Samuel Taylor Coleridge came to stay in Keswick in 1800, after staying with the Wordsworths near Grasmere. Robert Southey (Poet Laureate 1813) also lived in Keswick and is buried at Crossthwaite. Brantwood, on the shore of Coniston Water, was the home of John Ruskin and is open to the public. The Coniston Museum has a permanent exhibition on Ruskin. Beatrix Potter first visited the Lake District on holiday from London with her family. She later bought property in the area and married a local solicitor from Hawkshead. Hill Top is open to the public and many of the rooms will be recognisable to visitors from her books.
Arthur Ransome wrote ‘Swallows and the Amazons’ which is based on Coniston Water.
Mirehouse is a private house with many literary associations, because John Spedding knew Tennyson and Thomas Carlyle. Sir Hugh Walpole set ‘The Herries Chronicle’ in Borrowdale.