Places Visited and Letters Written: 1798-1800
The two tables given below summarise the movements of William and Dorothy Wordsworth from the time that they leave Alfoxden in Somerset (June, 1798) to the end of their first year lived in Grasmere (December, 1800). They are intended to provide a rapid overview of locations and places visited in the period, as well as a comparison between the period immediately before, and after, settling in Grasmere.
The tables are linked to selected letters. Letters have been selected insofar as they relate to place and a sense of location, of needing a home or of having found one. They are drawn from The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth: The Early Years and from Coleridge's Collected Letters Vol 1. To read a letter, or extract from a letter, associated with a location click on the link in the third column. An asterisk (*) indicates that the whole letter is given on the site and also reproduced photographically.
The information summarised here is also given in more detail in:
From Goslar to Grasmere 1798-1800
WW and DW: Places Visited between June 1798 and December 1799
To read a letter, or extract from a letter, associated with a location click on the link in the third column. An asterisk (*) indicates that the whole letter is given on the site.
|
Place |
1798 |
Letter/Extract |
|
Leave Alfoxden |
June 25th |
|
|
Nether Stowey |
June 25th- July 2nd |
|
|
Bristol |
July 2nd-9th |
|
|
Wales/Tintern |
July 10th-13th |
|
|
Bristol |
July 2nd-9th |
|
|
Shirehampton |
July 14th- |
|
|
Wales |
August 4th-10th (or 25th) |
|
|
Oxford |
By August 25th |
|
|
London |
August 27th-Sept. 14th |
|
|
To Yarmouth |
Sept. 14th |
|
|
Arrive Yarmouth |
September 15th |
|
|
On ship to Germany |
September 16th-18th |
|
|
Arrive at mouth of Elbe |
September 18th |
|
|
Hamburg |
September 19th-October 3rd |
|
|
To Goslar |
October 3rd- October 6th |
|
|
Goslar |
October 6th-February 23rd, 1799 |
|
Place |
1799 |
Letter/ Extract |
|
Goslar |
Oct. 3rd 1798- 23rd Feb 1799 |
|
|
Clausthal (Hartz Forest) |
Feb 23rd |
|
|
Osterode |
Feb. 24th |
|
|
Schazefeld |
Feb 25th |
|
|
Nordhausen |
Feb 27th- 28th |
|
|
Travelling around Saxony |
Feb 28th – April 20th/21st |
|
|
Gottingen |
April 20th/21st |
|
|
Travelling to Hamburg |
April 20th/21st-25th |
|
|
Hamburg |
April 25th |
|
|
To Yarmouth |
Late April |
|
|
To Sockburn in Yorkshire |
Late April-Dec 17th, 1799 [DW largely stays in Sockburn] |
|
|
WW Travels around Lakes |
Oct. 27th-21st November |
|
|
To Barnard Castle |
Oct. 28th |
|
|
To Greta Bridge |
Oct. 29th-30th |
|
|
To Bampton |
Oct. 31st |
|
|
To Kentmere |
Nov 1st |
|
|
To Hawkshead |
Nov. 2nd |
|
|
To Grasmere |
Nov. 3rd-7th |
|
|
To Keswick |
Nov. 8th-9th |
|
|
To Ouse Bridge |
Nov. 10th |
|
|
To Buttermere |
Nov. 11th |
|
|
To Ennerdale Water or Wastdale Head |
Nov. 12th |
|
|
To Wastdale |
Nov. 13th |
|
|
To Borrowdale |
Nov. 14th |
|
|
To Threlkeld |
Nov. 15th |
|
|
To Patterdale |
Nov. 16th |
|
|
To Pooley Bridge |
Nov. 17th |
|
|
?WW's movements not known |
Nov. 18th-25th [DW briefly leaves Sockburn 25th-26th] |
|
|
WW Back to Sockburn |
Nov. 26th |
|
|
To Grasmere: Askrigg |
Dec. 17th |
|
|
Sedbergh |
Dec. 18th |
|
|
Kendal |
Dec. 19th |
|
|
Grasmere |
Dec. 20th |
WW and DW: Places Visited Between January and December, 1800
|
Base Location |
Place Visited |
1800 |
Letters/ Extracts |
|
Grasmere All trips return to Grasmere |
|||
|
Gallow Hill, Hutchinson's Farm (East Riding, Yorkshire) William and John only |
May 14th- June 7th Or 8th |
||
|
Keswick (William and STC: STC moves to Keswick this day) |
July 23rd -24th |
||
|
Keswick (William and STC) |
August 2nd-6th |
||
|
Keswick William, Dorothy and John poss. |
August 8th-17th |
||
|
Keswick (William, John and John Marshall) |
Sept. 10th-11th |
||
|
Keswick (William only) |
Oct. 15th-17th |
||
|
Keswick (William and later Dorothy) |
Nov.15th-22nd (WW) Nov. 16th-22nd (DW) |
