The cottage

A small cottage. An extraordinary imagination.

William and Catherine Blake lived in this thatched cottage in Felpham, West Sussex, from 1800 to 1803. It is the only one of Blake’s homes to survive intact: a rare connection with the couple’s daily life and creative world.

A home for poetry, art and visions

The sea, garden and Sussex landscape helped inspire William’s work on Milton, Jerusalem and Auguries of Innocence. The famous lines later set to music as the hymn Jerusalem are believed to have been conceived here.

Catherine was his partner in life and work. Their home and garden offered inspiration and refuge, although the years in Felpham also brought ill health, tensions with William’s patron and an accusation of sedition. William was tried in Chichester in 1804 and acquitted.

A remarkable Sussex building

Nick Tyson’s Historic Building Assessment (July 2025) dates the original cottage to the mid-eighteenth century. It was built in the local tradition of flint, stone, brick and timber, beneath a thatched roof. The cottage is listed Grade II* and its garden wall Grade II.

Historical evidence and specialist conservation advice guide the restoration, helping recover the character of the home William and Catherine knew.

Why it matters now

Blake’s ideas about imagination, freedom and the natural world continue to inspire artists, writers and musicians across the world. Saving his home will create a place to encounter that legacy and make new work.Explore the Blakes’ life in Felpham → ·Discover Blake’s art and writing →

Watch: Away to Sweet Felpham

Explore the Blakes’ years in Felpham and the cottage’s significance in Away to Sweet Felpham: Rediscovering the Radical Blake.

Published on YouTube · 19 June 2024

Restoration: the roof is saved. Help us finish the job.

With the roof secured, the next stages are to conserve the cottage and garden and prepare for public access.

Watch: The new roof from above

A short film combines close-up views of the thatchers at work with drone footage of the cottage’s new roof.

September 2025 · 55 seconds
Courtesy of The Martin Sewell Building Company Ltd and Bulldog Media.

The path to the 2027 bicentenary

From a roof secured to a cottage ready to welcome visitors: follow the next stages of the rescue.

Planning the visitor experience

A working group of more than twenty specialists is advising on the future visitor experience. Conservators, heritage garden specialists, archaeologists and historic house managers are helping bring the Blakes’ world to life.

Future access will need careful management, with attention to local roads, pavements and the village’s needs. Visiting arrangements from August 2027, including any ticketing, have not yet been decided and will depend on conservation progress. Public consultation helps shape the project.

A longer-term ambition

A new arts and education centre would offer space for exhibitions, learning and resident writers, musicians, painters and printmakers. A working replica of Blake’s wooden rolling press would let people encounter the craft behind his art.

This is a longer-term vision, with no confirmed completion date.

Visiting and other frequently asked questions →