Mirehouse
Encyclopedia
Mirehouse is a 17th-century house to the north of Keswick
in Cumbria
, at the foot of Dodd
, near Bassenthwaite Lake
and St Bega's Church, on the A591 road
. Although still a family home it and its grounds are open to the public and in 1999 won the award for 'Best Heritage Property for Families in the UK'.
Mirehouse was built in 1666 by Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby
, who sold it in 1688 to his agent, Roger Greg. The Greg family and then the Storys owned the estate until 1802 when it was given by Thomas Story to John Spedding. The Spedding family have owned Mirehouse ever since.
The Speddings have enlarged the house several times, with the last major changes occurring in the 1960s, when extensive renovation work was carried out, and in the 1980s, when the ground floor and grounds were opened to the public. The grounds now include a Bee Garden, a wild flower meadow
, a "poetry walk" and adventure playgrounds.
The Spedding family had strong links to a number of poets, including William Wordsworth
, Lord Alfred Tennyson
and Robert Southey
as well as Thomas Carlyle
and John Constable
, some of whom stayed at Mirehouse. In celebration of these poetic links, an annual Poetry competition is now held.
In Whitehaven
, also in Cumbria, there is a large housing estate called Mirehouse.
Keswick, Cumbria
Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, at the foot of Dodd
Dodd (Lake District)
Dodd is a small fell in the Lake District, Cumbria, England, four kilometres north-west of Keswick. It forms part of the Skiddaw range in the northern part of the national park and the slopes are heavily wooded.-Forestry:...
, near Bassenthwaite Lake
Bassenthwaite Lake
Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about ....
and St Bega's Church, on the A591 road
A591 road
The A591 is a major road in Cumbria, in the north-west of England. The stretch of the road between Windermere and Keswick has been voted Britain's Favourite Road.-Route:...
. Although still a family home it and its grounds are open to the public and in 1999 won the award for 'Best Heritage Property for Families in the UK'.
Mirehouse was built in 1666 by Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby
Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby
Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby , an English nobleman, was the only son of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Charlotte de La Trémouille....
, who sold it in 1688 to his agent, Roger Greg. The Greg family and then the Storys owned the estate until 1802 when it was given by Thomas Story to John Spedding. The Spedding family have owned Mirehouse ever since.
The Speddings have enlarged the house several times, with the last major changes occurring in the 1960s, when extensive renovation work was carried out, and in the 1980s, when the ground floor and grounds were opened to the public. The grounds now include a Bee Garden, a wild flower meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
, a "poetry walk" and adventure playgrounds.
The Spedding family had strong links to a number of poets, including William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, Lord Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
and Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
as well as Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
and John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
, some of whom stayed at Mirehouse. In celebration of these poetic links, an annual Poetry competition is now held.
In Whitehaven
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a small town and port on the coast of Cumbria, England, which lies equidistant between the county's two largest settlements, Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness, and is served by the Cumbrian Coast Line and the A595 road...
, also in Cumbria, there is a large housing estate called Mirehouse.