The Research
Until recently, very little was known about Wordsworth House, or the people who once lived here. Architectural historians were called in to determine how the house had changed over the centuries, whilst census and other records were examined at local record offices, to trace past occupants. Specialist paint analysts has shown how the Wordsworth’s might have decorated their house, by examining samples of paint from almost every wall surface.
Today, the paint colours in most rooms reflect the results of this investigation. The types of paint used (such as oil-bound and casein distempers) were chosen carefully to give the finish and texture characteristic of an 18th-century home.
A house only becomes a home once it is full of the belongings of the people who live there. The challenge at Wordsworth House has been to find pieces likely to have been owned by families of middling status like the Wordsworths, and where possible originating from Cumbria. Today, the ‘Best’ rooms (at the front of the house) have been furnished with antiques, dating from the mid-late 18th century, collected over several years.
Furnishings for the informal ‘hands-on’ rooms have been made by specialist craftspeople and conservators, replicating 18th-century examples. Great efforts have been made to use traditional techniques and materials, so that the finished products look and feel as they did in the 1770s. Replica items include furniture crafted by cabinet-makers, kitchen utensils forged by blacksmiths, carpets and fabrics made by weavers, crockery hand-made by potters and a cradle by a willow-weaver.