Wordsworth's lake and village, with Dove Cottage near the shore and the poet's grave in the churchyard
Grasmere is a small, round lake and the village beside it, and both are bound up with William Wordsworth, who lived here for years and called the valley the loveliest spot that man hath ever found. He wrote much of his best work at Dove Cottage, the plain little house just outside the village where he and his sister Dorothy settled in 1799; it’s open to visit, with a museum alongside. Wordsworth is buried with his family in the churchyard at St Oswald’s in the middle of the village.
The village is busy and geared to visitors, but pleasantly so. The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, in the old school by the church, has been making its spicy, chewy gingerbread to a guarded recipe since the 1850s. For a view over the lake, walk up to Loughrigg Terrace on the southern side, an easy and mostly gentle path with a clear outlook straight back down the water to the village and fells.
You can walk right round the lake, linking it with Rydal Water next door on a well-trodden loop. Parking and buses serve the village, and it gets very full on summer weekends, so come early if you can.
