Rydal is an English village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 located in the shire (non-metropolitan) county of 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...

, which is in North West England

North West England

North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

. Historically within Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

, the village of Rydal is situated 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:...

.

Located mid-way between Ambleside

Ambleside

Ambleside is a town in Cumbria, in North West England.Historically within the county of Westmorland, it is situated at the head of Windermere, England's largest lake...

 and Grasmere

Grasmere

Grasmere is a village, and popular tourist destination, in the centre of the English Lake District. It takes its name from the adjacent lake, and is associated with the Lake Poets...

, the small cluster of houses, church and hotel are significant in the history of English

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 Romantic literature. Not only was 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....

 the occupier of Rydal Mount

Rydal Mount

Rydal Mount is a house near Ambleside in the Lake District. It is best known as the home of the poet William Wordsworth from 1813 to his death in 1850....

 from 1813 to 1850, but Dr. Thomas Arnold

Thomas Arnold

Dr Thomas Arnold was a British educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement...

 — the famous headmaster of Rugby School

Rugby School

Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

 — had a summer home at Fox How in nearby Under Loughrigg. Arnold's son, the poet Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...

, was a frequent visitor and a close friend of Wordsworth. At the northern end of Rydal Water is White Moss House

White Moss House

White Moss House is situated at the north end of Rydal Water.William Wordsworth bought White Moss House when he moved from Dove Cottage in Grasmere to Rydal Mount....

, believed to be the only house owned by Wordsworth, of which he bought for his son, Willie and which remained in the Wordsworth family until the 1930s.http://www.whitemoss.com