Location : Grasmere
Map - Ordnance Survey - SD 333078

Allan Bank in Grasmere, is a large house that William Wordsworth had condemned as an eyesore when it was being built. However, in 1808 after he had married, he and Mary moved here with their three children John, Thomas and Dora. Also living with them were Mary's sister Sara Hutchinson, and their literary friends Thomas de Quincey and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They stayed here for two years during which time they had two more children, Catherine and William, but they moved on because the chimneys smoked too much, and they fell out with the landlord.

After 34 years at Crosthwaite Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, one of the founders of the National Trust, retired in 1917 to Grasmere, where he had bought Allan Bank in 1915. He died in 1920, leaving Allan Bank to the Trust.

Apart from its literary connections, the house itself is not particularly interesting, but it is in a fascinating situation overlooking Grasmere lake, and has charming park-like land below it, and craggy fell behind.

It is rented privately, and not open to the public.

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