Grasmere: Tourism and Transport
A major development in Grasmere’s history was the building of a turnpike road through the valley in 1775. This road (run by a Trust which levied a toll from road users) opened up Grasmere’s connections with the outside world. It followed a route across White Moss Common and entered Grasmere at Town End, where travellers could find refreshment at the Dove and Olive Inn. Along this road came the first tourists. In 1805, Dorothy Wordsworth, then living in Dove Cottage, noted that late summer and autumn were the busiest times, “for we are, directly in the highway of the Tourists”.
By the 1830s a new main road had been constructed
along the lakeshore (what is now the main A591). This was much to
the distress of Wordsworth for it led to the destruction of “a grove
at the north-eastern end of Grasmere Lake... The few trees that are
left were spared at my intercession”. The new main road provided
a better view of Grasmere Lake, which was what the increasing numbers
of tourists wanted to see.
In 1847 the Kendal to Windermere railway line was opened. This led
to a real expansion in tourism in the South Lakes as the hotels had
coaches ferrying tourists to and from Windermere. What is now the
Wordsworth Museum started life as a coach house for the Prince of
Wales Hotel. The line was planned to pass through Grasmere, but these
plans were abandoned after a campaign against the railway. One of
the people most strongly opposed to the idea was William Wordsworth.
He believed the number of tourists the railway would bring would
spoil Grasmere and the countryside around it.
Unknown artist, Dove Cottage, 1800?, watercolour, The Wordsworth Trust.