Writers’ retreats

Be inspired by the spaces where some of the nation’s best writers put pen to paper and brought their timeless novels, poetry and plays to life

Rudyard Kipling’s Bateman’s, Sussex

When Kipling first set eyes on Bateman’s in 1902, he exclaimed: ‘This is she! Let’s make a good, honest woman of her quick.’ The Jacobean house was a period property even in its day, and he loved that it had no modern Victorian additions. It was here, sitting at the desk in the study, that Kipling wrote many of the works that would immortalise his name. In 1939, the house fell into the care of the National Trust and has been perfectly preserved as if the Kiplings have just stepped out. (nationaltrust.org.uk)

Dylan Thomas’ Boathouse and writing shed, Carmarthenshire

Thomas first visited the village of Laugharne in his teens, returning in 1938 to make it his family’s home and moving into the Boathouse in 1949. Filled with three noisy children, the house was no place to write but, teetering on the cliff above, was a garage that offered Dylan his sanctuary. It was here that he spent his most productive years penning his famous poetry. The shed later inspired Roald Dahl to create his own, identical in nearly every way, at the foot of his own garden. (dylanthomasboathouse.com)

Jane Austen’s Chawton Cottage, Hampshire

Step back into 1816 and find yourself immersed in the world of Jane Austen. It was while living here, at Chawton Cottage, that Austen published all of her novels, and where she sat at a little table in the parlour and wrote Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Emma. While her novels are loved worldwide, her personal story is less well known. Explore the house and dedicated museum and discover the fascinating life of one of Britain’s most celebrated authors for yourself. (janeaustens.house)

Virginia Woolf ’s writing lodge, Sussex

Every writer dreams of a place to escape to – a room of one’s own. Indeed, Virginia Woolf wrote an entire essay on the topic, and that is exactly what she crafted for herself from a wooden tool shed at the bottom of her garden at Monk’s House. Commuting with the ‘regularity of a stockbrocker’ each day, she wrote her first drafts by hand on blue paper, while sat in an armchair with a thin piece of plywood on her lap, before turning to the typewriter on the desk to immortalise the results. (nationaltrust.org.uk)

Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, Bodmin Moor

While there is no evidence that Jamaica Inn, which inspired du Maurier’s novel of the same name, was a house for smugglers, the gothic façade that greeted du Maurier when she was lost on the moor, clearly left a mark on the writer. The hotel is also home to a museum, which tells the story of both Cornwall’s smugglers’ cove and of du Maurier. It even features a room dedicated to her, complete with the Sheraton writing desk on which she wrote and a dish of Glacier Mints, her favourite treat. (jamaicainn.co.uk)

Beatrix Potter’s Hill Top, Near Sawry

Left as though Potter has just ventured for a stroll along the fells, Hill Top is a childhood dream come to life. It is full of the things that inspired her, from the parlour window view seen in The Tale of Samuel Whiskers to her dolls’ house that was immortalised in The Tale of Two Bad Mice. The garden, too, looks as though it was taken straight from her watercolours. Fastidiously restored to Potter’s original design, you can almost see a little blue-jacketed rabbit racing through the onions. (nationaltrust.org.uk)

William Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage, Grasmere

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ is one of the most instantly recognisable lines of poetry in the English language and it was here, in Dove Cottage, that Wordsworth first penned these lines. Wordsworth lived here with his sister Dorothy from 1799 to 1809. The house and garden have been restored back to their early-19th-century glory, guided by Dorothy’s diligent diarising, and the cottage is filled with the poet’s possessions, giving a real sense of their lives while living here. (wordsworth.org.uk)

Thomas Hardy’s Max Gate, Dorchester

Designed by Hardy himself, who was also a trained architect, Max Gate is an impressive townhouse on the outskirts of Dorchester. By the time the house was built in 1885, Hardy already had literary success with Far from the Madding Crowd - which he wrote while living at his childhood home, Hardy Cottage. Literary success continued while at Max Gate, as he penned both Tess of the d’urbervilles and Jude the Obscure while sitting in one of the house’s three studies. (nationaltrust.org.uk)