Blake's Cottage stands in the village of

Felpham Felpham (, sometimes pronounced locally as ''Felf-fm'' or ''Fel-thm'') is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. The house dates from the 17th century. Its name commemorates the occupancy of the poet

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

, who lived in the cottage from 1800 to 1803. During his time at the house, Blake wrote the verses "

And did those feet in ancient time "And did those feet in ancient time" is a poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date of 1804 on the title page is probably when the ...

", the preface to his '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', which were later set to music as the hymn "Jerusalem". The cottage, owned by a trust, is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History and description

William Hayley, poet and biographer of his friend

William Cowper William Cowper ( ; – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the Engli ...

, began the construction of a house, called The Turret, at Felpham in 1798. In 1800, he invited

, and his wife

Catherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

, to the village to illustrate his own works. Blake remained at Felpham for three years, residing at his "cot" south of the village church. During his residence Blake wrote much of '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', the preface of which was subsequently adapted into the hymn "Jerusalem". The cottage is managed by the Blake's Cottage Trust which bought the building in 2015. The trust has sought to raise funds to undertake restoration of the cottage but this has proved challenging. In 2017 the trust appointed architects to undertake reconstruction and redevelopment though their plans have generated some local opposition. In November 2021 concerns regarding the fabric of the building saw the cottage being placed on the 2021

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

. The trust aims to complete renovation of the cottage by 2027, the bicentenary of Blake's death. The original cottage dates from the 17th century. It is of two storeys and is constructed of cob,

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and brick with a

thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...

ed roof. It is a

References

Sources

* {{cite book , first1= Elizabeth, last1=Williamson , first2=Tim , last2=Hudson , first3=Jeremy , last3=Musson , first4=Ian , last4=Nairn , authorlink3 = Jeremy Musson , authorlink4 = Ian Nairn , title = Sussex: West , url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1104943526 , series =

The Buildings of England ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, year = 2019 , origyear = 1965 , location = New Haven and London , publisher =

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, isbn = 978-0-300-22521-1 , oclc=1104943526

External links

Virtual tour of Blake's Cottage

Blake’s Landscape near Felpham, showing the cottage to the right
Country houses in West Sussex Grade II* listed buildings in West Sussex William Blake