John Clare Cottage is a cottage and literary museum in

Helpston Helpston (also, formerly, "Helpstone") is an England, English village formerly in the Soke of Peterborough, geographically in Northamptonshire, subsequently (1965–1974) in Huntingdon and Peterborough, then in Cambridgeshire, and administered b ...

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, United Kingdom. The cottage was the birthplace of English poet

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

(1793-1864). The thatched Grade II* cottage at 12 Woodgate, Helpston, originally consisted of five smaller tenement buildings, that were joined into a single structure at a later date. The cottage was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2005. In May 2007, the Trust gained £1.27 million of funding from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and commissioned

Jefferson Sheard Architects Jefferson Sheard Architects is a British architectural design firm based in Sheffield, Manchester, Peterborough and London. It was founded in 1958. The founding partners were Bryan Jefferson and Gerry Sheard. Bryan Jefferson was President of the R ...

to create a new landscape design and Visitor Centre, including a cafe, shop and exhibition space. The Cottage was restored using traditional building methods and is open to the public. In 2013 the John Clare Trust received a further grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help preserve the building and provide educational activities for young people visiting the cottage. The garden behind the cottage is maintained by volunteers, and planted with varieties which would have been seen in Clare's time. The John Clare Cottage forms part of the Fens Museum Partnership, along with

Peterborough Museum Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and

Flag Fen Flag Fen, east of Peterborough, Pryor 2005. p. 9. England, is a Bronze Age site which was constructed about 3500 years ago and consists of more than 60,000 timbers arranged in five very long rows, creating a wooden causeway (around 1 km lo ...

. Clare_Cottage.jpg, Clare Cottage in 2018 Statue at John Clare Cottage.jpg, Statue of John Clare John Clare Cottage gardens.jpg, Cottage gardens Plaque on John Clare's cottage, Helpston, Peterborough - geograph.org.uk - 217345.jpg, Plaque erected by the Peterborough Museum Society 1921

References

External links

Garden at John Clare Cottage

John Clare cottage garden archaeological work
{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2019 Literary museums in England Biographical museums in Cambridgeshire Buildings and structures in Peterborough Grade II* listed buildings in Cambridgeshire