Poet's cottage opens as a museum

John Clare, 1793 - 1864. Getty Images / Hulton Archive

A museum dedicated to the 19th Century poet John Clare has opened in his former home in Cambridgeshire.

Clare Cottage in Helpston, near Peterborough, was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2007 and transformed into a museum and writers' retreat.

The trust hopes it will also inspire children to become interested in the countryside, the source of many of Clare's poems.

Known as the peasant's poet, he was born in the cottage on 13 July, 1793.

The son of a farm labourer, Clare had early success as a great English Romantic poet and then fell into obscurity.

He lived in the cottage during his period of literary success in the 1820s before leaving for nearby Northborough in 1832.

He was admitted to an asylum five years later and lived in these institutions up to his death in 1864. He is buried in Helpston, north of Peterborough.

Commemorative walk

The trust said the recent publication of his complete poems had reignited interest in his poetry worldwide and he could gradually attain the same status as his contemporary, William Wordsworth.

On Sunday, members completed a commemorative 80-mile walk from Epping Forest to Helpston.

It followed in the footsteps of the poet, who escaped an asylum and made his way back home on foot.

"It was beautiful weather and we came through beautiful countryside, but it was hard work," said chairman of the trust Barry Sheerman.

The museum's garden has been designed to reflect that of a 19th Century cottage, and visitors are encouraged to use it as a base for guided explorations of the countryside.