Self Catering Isle of Wight Cottages & Cafe | Tennyson Home Self Catering Cottages set in the scenic grounds of Farringford House on the Isle of Wight - the historic home of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Farringford House Isle of Wight » Self Catering Cottages Our lovely and extremely comfortable 4 star self catering cottages are sympathetically situated in 3 small groups within this uniquely historic estate. See our self catering cottages » Home of Tennyson Farringford was home to the celebrated Victorian Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), and is arguably the island’s most important historic estate after Osborne House. Discover more about Tennyson » Isle of Wight Blog Tennyson's stargazing platform A previously hidden window was uncovered. Not an unusual thing in itself but it led out to a gulley between the inner pitches of the original roof... read our latest Blog » Tennyson on the Isle of Wight Tennyson on the Isle of Wight The home of the great poet.

The Summer House Tennyson on the Isle of Wight In the autumn of 1853, Alfred and Emily Tennyson went house-hunting. Since their marriage in 1850 they had been searching for a home, but, as Emily's journal tells us, all suggestions and recommendations had been followed by disappointments. From March 1851 they lived at Chapel House in Twickenham , where their son, Hallam, was born in August 1852. In October of that year, Tennyson visited Bonchurch in the Isle of Wight. The poet's friend, Richard Monckton Milnes , had published a biography of John Keats in 1848 and it has been suggested that Tennyson's enthusiasm for Keats' poetry had led him to consider settling on the island where Keats had chosen to write. He was told that Farringford House, in the south of the island, near Freshwater, was available for rent from the Seymour family . Tennyson went to look at the house and found a substantial building in the neo-Gothic style fashionable at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

It looked 'rather wretched with wet leaves trampled into the lawn' but he liked it enough to suggest that Emily should travel over and give him her opinion. Freshwater was very remote in the 1850s, and, having missed the steamer from Lymington, the Tennysons made the crossing in a rowing boat. Emily was immediately struck by the view from the drawing room window, and they decided that they would rent Farringford, furnished, with an option to purchase. Tennyson is a poet of landscape. Views and settings were of great importance to him. Born and brought up in the Lincolnshire wolds, he had found little inspiration in any of the places (Epping Forest, Cheltenham, Mornington Crescent) where he had lived after his family's move south from Lincolnshire in 1837. A compulsive walker, he could now climb daily onto High Down (later given the name Tennyson Down), sometimes pulling Emily with him in a small carriage. Surrounded by trees, Farringford had a sizeable estate, reaching down to the sea. Behind the house was a patch of tangled woodland known as the wilderness through which Tennyson opened up the old paths.

Close by, he built himself a summerhouse where he did much of his writing. The Pre-Raphaelite painter, William Holman Hunt , visiting Farringford in 1858, was delighted by the murals which Tennyson had been painting onto the panes of glass: 'writhing monsters of different sizes and shapes, swirling about as in the deep'. The summerhouse no longer survives, but visitors to Farringford tell of dragons, sea-serpents and kingfishers, appropriate subjects for a poet working on a cycle of Arthurian poems, The Idylls of the King . In another artistic venture, he made carvings of ivy-leaves in apple-tree wood, and terracotta casts from these were placed round the doors of farm cottages on the estate. From the start the Tennysons were keen gardeners, with Alfred cutting the grass and rolling the lawns. He would not hear of cutting down the trees which guaranteed his seclusion, even though this would have let through more light for his plants. He was to be seen digging and organising flower and vegetable beds in his gardens.

'I hope no one will pluck my wild Irises which I have planted', he wrote, 'if they want flowers there is the kitchen garden - nor break my new laurels etc. whose growth I have watched … I don't quite like children croquetting on that lawn. I have a personal interest in every leaf about it'. Some idea of the garden beds, full of flowers, can be seen in the paintings of Helen Allingham (fig. 4 and cat. 9), who illustrated The Homes and Haunts of Tennyson in 1905, after the poet's death. Tennyson's garden was, as he put it himself, 'careless ordered'. This was an old-fashioned plan rather than the formal style coming into fashion in the 1850s. The natural scheme, with its apparently random shrubs and perennial plants was more like the gardens of today than the set and almost mathematical flower beds of the High Victorian period. At Farringford, as we can tell from Helen Allingham's paintings, flowers were to be found in profusion in the herbaceous borders of the walled garden.

Tennyson's poetry and Emily's journal tell us of their delight in the plants, birds, animals and insects around them. Friends and family related a number of passages from Tennyson's poems to particular aspects of Farringford life. Among them are the references to the cedar tree (cat. 7) and to the white-flowered yucca plant in 'To Ulysses' , a poem addressed to a friend, Gifford Palgrave . Tennyson writes of seeing My cedar green, and there My giant ilex keeping leaf When frost is keen and days are brief - Or marvel how in English air My yucca, which no winter quells Although the months have scarce begun, Has pushed toward our faintest sun A spike of half-accomplished bells. In 'The Flower' Tennyson writes of the love in idleness, or heartsease, grown from a seed which he had planted himself. It becomes a symbol for ideas (or his own poetry) which people at first dislike and then steal, copy and devalue. Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went Through my garden-bower, Cursed me and my flower. The flowering yew trees, with the pollen blowing around them like smoke, found their way into two of Tennyson's poems. His son, Hallam, quotes his mother's journal for April 1868: 'There has been a great deal of smoke in the yew-trees this year. One day there was such a cloud that it seemed to be a firein the shrubbery'. Hallam then notes that this was the inspiration for a passage from The Holy Grail , part of the Arthurian cycle. The old monk, Ambrosius, tells Sir Percivale that he has lived in the abbey for fifty years: 'O brother, I have seen this yew-tree smoke, Spring after spring, for half a hundred years'. The Tennyson memorial in Freshwater Church states that he passed his happiest days at Farringford. One indication of this was his insertion of a new poem in In Memoriam . This sequence of poems, making up an elegy for Tennyson's Cambridge friend, Arthur Hallam, was written over many years and finally published in 1850.

Its popularity had a part to play in Tennyson's elevation to the position of Poet Laureate in the same year. In poem II of In Memoriam, Tennyson writes of the yew tree, so often found in graveyards, as a symbol of enduring grief. When others trees are flowering in the spring, the yew does not experience a 'glow' or 'a bloom', Who changest not in any gale, Nor branding summer suns avail To touch thy thousand years of gloom. The experience of Farringford led Tennyson to write a balancing poem which suggests the coming of hope, of relief from the worst effects of sadness. Incorporated into the sequence as number XXXIX, this was written on 1 April 1868 and published in 1869. Tennyson tells us that the yew can also flower, with its 'fruitful cloud and living smoke': To thee too comes the golden hour When flower is feeling after flower. Inside the house at Farringford, Tennyson first chose an attic room for his study, but later moved down to the ground floor. A platform was built on the roof so that he could watch the stars.

One of the most remarkable sights he witnessed was the passage of a comet in 1858. For a better view of this, Tennyson climbed up onto the down. On the night of the birth of their second son, 16 March 1854, Tennyson saw Mars in the constellation of the Lion. Lionel had been one of the names considered, and the baby was duly given that name. Among the poems written at Farringford was Maud . The extended monologue of a deeply disturbed man, it expresses Tennyson's anger at the Mammonism of the age. The speaker begins with the suicide of his father, who had suffered a financial disaster. He then tells of his love for Maud, the daughter of a neighbour who, he believes, has profited from his own father's fall. There is considerable evidence that the poem refers to a thwarted early relationship between the poet and Rosa Baring, a member of a wealthy family living at Harrington Hall in Lincolnshire . Certain features can, however, be related to the Isle of Wight, including the account of the crashing of the waves onto the shore.

Having glimpsed Maud, the speaker stands in his 'own dark garden ground' and hears the sound of the sea: Listening now to the tide in its broad-flung shipwrecking roar, Now to the scream of a maddened beach dragged down by the wave. Reviewers complained that these lines were exaggerated, but the scientist John Tyndall confirmed that this effect was not uncommon: The pebbles and shingles on the beach are mainly flint, and emit a sharp sound on collision with each other. As the billows break and roll up the beach they carry the shingle along with them, and on their retreat they drag it downwards. Here the collisions of the flint pebbles are innumerable. They blend together in a continuous sound which could not be better described than by the line in 'Maud'. More recently, Richard Hutchings, standing near the site of Tennyson's summer house 'heard the scream of the shingle at Freshwater Bay as it is dragged down by the waves'.

Maud was not much liked by the critics, but the profits from the volume enabled Tennyson to take up his option to buy the Farringford estate in 1856.Always nervous about money, Tennyson told his brother-in-law: 'We are going to buy this house and little estate here, only I rather shake under the fear of being ruined'. Once they owned Farringford the Tennysons were able to move in their own furniture and to decorate and re-arrange the interior as they wished . One major change came in 1871 when they built a large room for parties and dances with a library above it. The walls of the house slowly filled up with paintings, sculptures and photographs, among them some from the collection of Italian and Flemish old masters amassed by the poet's father. Maud ends with the speaker joining up to fight in the Crimean War . The Tennysons had heard the sound of cannon practice from across the Solent before the war began, and they learnt of the progress of hostilities from the newspapers. The famous military disaster, the Charge of the Light Brigade , took place on 25 October 1854, and was reported in The Times on 3 November.

William Howard Russell told the full story there on 13 November and this was followed by other eye-witness accounts. On 5 December, on High Down, Tennyson drafted what has become his best-known work: 'in a few minutes, after reading the description in the Times'. The poem was revised over the next two days and then published on 9 December. Another popular poem written in the summerhouse was 'Enoch Arden' . This is a poem of the sea, telling of a seafarer who tries to set up in business for himself, fails, and so undertakes a voyage on a shipwhich is wrecked. Enoch spends years on a desert island, is eventually rescued, and comes home to find his wife, Annie, remarried. He does not make himself known to her, and she only learns the truth of his return after his death. We know that the Pre-Raphaelite sculptor, Thomas Woolner , gave Tennyson the story for 'Enoch Arden'. Tennyson himself told a friend that the original events took place in Suffolk.

The 'little port' of the poem could be in Tennyson's own Lincolnshire, but the landscape of the poem, with its 'Long lines of cliff', its 'chasm', its 'narrow cave' and its beach backed by 'a gray down' is not that of the North Sea coast. It is close to the views that Tennyson's would have seen walking in the area around Farringford. Tennyson would tell friends to 'listen to the sound of the sea' in the line 'The league-long roller thundering on the reef', where he describes the incoming tide on Enoch's island. He was capturing the effect of the waves as they crashed onto the coast of the Isle of Wight. There were many visitors to Farringford , among them Prince Albert who arrived in 1856, just as the Tennysons were preparing to decorate the house and move in their furniture. Charmed, he left with a bunch of cowslips, promising to bring Queen Victoria over from Osborne . Regrettably, this never happened, although the poet made several visits to her.

One famous visitor who did arrive was Garibaldi, who came in 1864, and planted a Wellingtoniana, a hugely tall fir tree, near the house. Tennyson writes of it as the waving pine which here The warrior of Caprera set, A name that earth will not forget Till earth has rolled her latest year - Of the friends who visited Farringford from the mainland many stayed in the house while others established themselves at Plumbleys Hotel in Freshwater . One of the earliest was the painter John Everett Millais, who helped the poet to sweep up the leaves and made a drawing of Emily and Hallam Tennyson for Tennyson's 'Dora'. This was among Millais' contributions to Edward Moxon's illustrated edition of Tennyson's Poems, published in 1857. Two other guests invited to the Tennyson's home were the Reverend Frederic Denison Maurice and Mary Boyle . Both were sent poems and these tell us what Tennyson most valued about Farringford. Maurice, who was godfather to Tennyson's son, Hallam, was associated with the trends in the Church of England which were described as Broad Church.

A liberal, he was one of the founders of the movement for social reform known as Christian Socialism. Shortly before Tennyson wrote the poem of invitation in January 1854, Maurice had fallen foul of the Council of King's College, London, for his belief that damnation need not be eternal. Tennyson drafted and then cut the lines: Should half our churchmen bear a spite To one so loving of the light The bigot needs must bear a spite To priests so faithful to the light. Tennyson sets out to persuade Maurice to leave the 'noise and smoke of town' for Freshwater, where the poet watches the 'twilight falling brown'. Maurice could enjoy the garden and the delights of a civilised dinner table with 'honest talk and wholesome wine' and no 'scandal'. In a poem written much later, in 1889, Tennyson told Mary Boyle to 'change our dark Queen-city' and her 'realm of sound and smoke' for a clear sky, the call of the cuckoo and 'the elm tree's ruddy-hearted blossom-flake . . . fluttering down'. Local friends were of great importance in providing stimulation for the poet, who was easily bored and often restless.

Fossil hunting was a popular pursuit at the time, and the scientist, Dr Robert Mann, and the rector of Brighstone, Mr Fox, were both happy to instruct him. Other friends began to buy or build houses near Farringford. On expeditions to London, Tennyson often stayed at Little Holland House in Kensington , home of Sara and Thoby Prinsep and a palace of 'high art'. Sara Prinsep was one of the talented and lively Pattle sisters, daughters of James Pattle, an Indian civil servant. The Tennysons knew another of the Pattle sisters, Julia Margaret Cameron , wife of Charles Hay Cameron. The Camerons first rented lodgings in Freshwater in 1857, and then, in 1860, bought two houses and knocked them together to form Dimbola . It was there that Julia Margaret learnt photography, and there are many stories of her pursuit of famous men in the exercise of her art, including, of course, her neighbour and his guests. The Camerons and the Tennysons, parents and children, were constantly visiting each other for more than a decade.

Through the Prinseps, Tennyson met the artist, George Frederic Watts , who first painted him in 1858 at Little Holland House, the painter's home for many years. Watts and Tennyson were good friends and, while a guest at Dimbola in 1862, Watts completed a portrait of Emily Tennyson . He then began on another of her husband. Work continued into 1863 on two, almost identical, heads, one, now in the National Portrait Gallery, the other exhibited here from a private collection these show Tennyson surrounded with laurel leaves, a distant glimpse of the white foam on the beach behind him. In 1864, the artist brought his teenage wife Ellen Terry to Farringford. When the Prinseps were about to lose their home at Little Holland House, Watts commissioned the architect, Philip Webb , to build a house, The Briary, for them all in Freshwater. Watts and his second wife Mary were at The Briary in 1890 while Watts waspainting his last two portraits of Tennyson, Mary Watts writes of seeing her husband and his sitter walking towards the Briary.

The poet's Russian wolfhound, Karenina , came first and then 'the poet, a note of black in the midst of vivid green, grand in the foldsof his ample cloak and his face looming grandly from the shadow of his giant hat' The closest of Tennyson's Isle of Wight friends was Sir John Simeon, of Swainston Manor . The two men visited each other regularly, and Tennyson greatly enjoyed Simeon's conversation. More than a year after Simeon died in 1870 he began to write a fine elegy, recalling the day of his friend's funeral. Swainston was famous for its nightingales: Nightingales sang in his woods: The master was far away: Nightingales warbled and sang Of a passion that lasts but a day; Still in the house in his coffin the Prince of courtesy lay. The poem which Tennyson hoped would close all volumes of his poetry, 'Crossing the Bar' was written in October 1889 while he was crossing the Solent. He explained to his son the same evening that 'it came in a moment'.

Tennyson's gift for natural observation is again apparent, as he tells how the full tide makes no noise and 'seems asleep', almost motionless. But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam, When that which drew from out the boundless deep Turns again home. The inspiration for 'Crossing the Bar' came as Tennyson returned to Farringford from his summer home at Aldworth, near Haslemere in Surrey. The increasing popularity of the Isle of Wight had resulted in intolerable incursions upon his personal privacy. A bridge was built so that he could reach the wilderness and the down without encountering his admirers in the lane, but some particularly insistent tourists, anxious to catch a glimpse of the great man, climbed trees or even walked into the garden. From the late 1860s, the family left the island for the summer months, and it was at Aldworth on October 6 1892 that the poet died. A funeral close to Farringford was considered, but the decision was made to bury Tennyson in Westminster Abbey. However, Emily who died four years later, lies in the Freshwater graveyard.

On 6 August 1897, a landmark memorial, a tall stone cross was unveiled on Beacon Down as a monument to the poet laureate. LEONEE ORMOND, Professor Emerita of Victorian Studies at King's College, London,is the author of Alfred Tennyson: A Literary Life . h2g2 - Farringford House, Freshwater, Isle of Wight - Edited Entry Farringford House, Freshwater, Isle of Wight Content from the guide to life, the universe and everything Farringford House, Freshwater, Isle of Wight Created 1 Conversation Farringford House, the home of Alfred Lord Tennyson for 40 years, is one of the Isle of Wight's hidden treasures. If it was owned by an organisation like the National Trust, its picture would doubtlessly be on every biscuit tin and tea-towel in the UK. Now, though, it is a privately-run hotel all-but-forgotten by all but the few visitors lucky enough to stay there. This is an indescribable shame as it is a perfect relic of the island's pre-eminent Victorian society, second in importance only to Osborne House , Queen Victoria's beloved palace.

The Surrounding Area Farringford is located on the island's western side, less than three miles from the Needles, and Alum Bay , home of the famous multi-coloured sand cliffs. Farringford is only a few minutes' walk from Compton, Afton and Freshwater Bays, some of the island's award-winning, but quiet, beaches. It is situated just outside of the small, sleepy village of Freshwater, a village whose church, All Saints' Church , dates from the 7th Century. Also nearby is St Agnes's, the island's only thatched church, built on land donated by Tennyson's family from the Farringford estate. Farringford is in an area nationally recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Much of the surrounding countryside is owned by the National Trust, including the Needles Old Battery, West High Down, Afton Down, Compton Down, Headon Warren, much of the cliff and coastline, and Tennyson Down itself. The Tennyson Trail, a 15-mile-long footpath running from the Needles to Newport 1 runs by Farringford, and Afton Marshes is also only a few minutes' walk away.

All of this means that it is a nature-lover's paradise, surrounded by the finest countryside views in all of England. It was, after all, for this reason that Alfred Lord Tennyson came to live at Farringford. Dimbola Lodge Although Farringford itself is not open to the public, a house that was the home of one of Alfred Lord Tennyson's closest friends is. Next door to Farringford is Dimbola Lodge 2 and was the home of Julia Margaret Cameron, the greatest portrait photographer of the 19th Century. In her studio she photographed many of Tennyson's friends and guests. Dimbola Lodge is interlinked to Farringford as Julia Margaret Cameron was able to record how Farringford House became the focus of a literary and artistic circle of the foremost artists in all mediums of the era.

On display are her photographs of Alfred Lord Tennyson and his friends and associates, people such as Charles Darwin 3 , artist GF Watts, who painted several portraits of Tennyson, the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray 4 , who lived on the island, as well as Lewis Carroll 5 , poet Robert Browning, artist William Holman Hunt, artist and thinker John Ruskin, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edward Lear 6 and Sir Arthur Sullivan 7 . These give an invaluable insight into the life of Alfred Lord Tennyson and the importance of Farringford as a source of inspiration to many of the most influential men of the 19th Century. 8 Farringford Before Tennyson Little is known of the history of Farringford before the coming of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The area was certainly settled in the stone age, as Paleolithic and Neolithic tools and flint implements have been discovered nearby, as well as bronze weapons. The earliest discovery on the grounds of Farringford itself was a hoard of third century coins. The area was certainly important in Saxon times, as the nearby All Saints' Church 9 shows.

For much of the Middle Ages the area around Farringford was owned by the Abbey of Lyre and was the site of Prior Manor. In the 14th Century the estate was owned by Walter de Farringford. In 1806 construction of the present house was begun, built as a Georgian house. In 1810 it was enlarged and embellished with Gothic parapets and wood-mullioned casements. Alfred Lord Tennyson described this decoration with the words 'It is like a blank verse, it will suit the humblest cottage and the grandest cathedral. It has more mystery than the classic.' By the 1850s Farringford was owned by the Seymour family. Alfred, Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson 10 was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire on 6 August, 1809, the fourth of twelve children. In 1827 he published his first collection of poems Poems By Two Brothers with his brother Charles 11 Also in 1827 he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, although he left in 1831 without a degree.

Tennyson published his first solo volume of poems, Poems, Chiefly Lyrical in 1830, and in 1832 published his second volume, simply entitled Poems. By 1842 Tennyson had won wide acclaim with the publication of his two-volume collection of poems which consisted of a mixture of previously-published poems as well as new work. In 1845 he was awarded a Civil List annual salary of £200. In 1847 he published The Princess, a poem concerning the question of women's rights. In 1850 Tennyson finally married Emily Sarah Sellwood, after a fourteen-year engagement which had begun in 1836 12 . Also in 1850, on William Wordsworth's death, he succeeded as Poet Laureate and moved to Twickenham near London, which he continued to visit each year for the remainder of his life. Alfred Lord Tennyson moved to Farringford in 1853.

During his time there he wrote many of his most famous works, including The Charge of the Light Brigade and Maud, while another, Crossing The Bar, was written on a voyage between the mainland and his home. From April 1862, Queen Victoria summoned him to court several times. In 1883 he finally accepted his barony title on Queen Victoria's insistence, having declined the invitation from Prime Ministers Disraeli and Gladstone. He became First Baron Tennyson of Aldworth And Freshwater, and first took his seat in the House of Lords in March 1884. Alfred, Lord Tennyson died on 6 October, 1892 at the age of 83 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. Tennyson At Farringford ...Take it and come to the Isle of Wight: Where, far from the noise of smoke and town, I watch the twilight falling brown All around a careless ordered garden, Close to the ridge of a noble down. You'll have no scandal while you dine, But honest talk and wholesome wine.

And only hear the magpie gossip Garrulous under a roof of pine: For groves of pine on either hand, To break the blast of winter stand; And further on the hoary Channel Tumbles a billow on chalk and sand. This is how Tennyson described his life at Farringford in a poem to his friend Reverend Maurice in January 1854. Finding Farringford Tennyson first came to the Isle of Wight in 1846 when he came with Edward Moxon to visit James White of Bonchurch. On that occasion he rowed around the Needles, and found the view unforgettable. He returned to the island in 1849, and again in 1853 when he was on the lookout for a house. He heard of Farringford, and fell in love with the view from the drawing room, which persuaded him to make Farringford his home. He summoned his wife Emily from Twickenham.

Her diary records her impressions of that fateful trip to see Farringford for the first time; 'The railway did not go further than Brockhurst then and the steamer, when there was one, from Lymington felt itself in no way bound to wait for the omnibus which brought as many of the passengers as it could from the train. We crossed in a rowing boat. It was a still November evening. One dark heron flew over the Solent backed by a daffodil sky... Next day we went to Farringford and looking from the drawing-room window I thought "I must have that view," and I said so to him when alone.' Tennyson himself said 'we will go no further, this must be our home.' On 11 November, 1853 Tennyson agreed to rent Farringford, furnished, on a three-year lease for £2 a week 13 . The lease came with an option to buy. On 25 November Alfred and Emily moved in and their staff consisted of a housekeeper, butler, cook, page, lady's maid, parlour and kitchen maids, gardeners, grooms and a coachman.

In March 1854 their second son, Lionel, was born in Farringford 14 . By 1856 Alfred, Lord Tennyson's income from his writings was over £2,000 a year and he bought the house, park and farmland of Farringford for £6,900. In the years that followed many of Tennyson's most important poems were written at Farringford. Tennyson also received visits from many of the world's most influential intellectuals. In June 1860 the Tennysons witnessed the eclipse of the sun from Farringford. Garibaldi also planted a Wellingtonia tree on his visit to Farringford in 1864. Farringford And Royalty On 13 May, 1856, on the arrival of Tennyson's own furniture, pictures, boxes of books and other assorted ornaments and antiquities, Prince Albert called. Tennyson, flustered in the middle of arranging the unpacking, is reported to have forgotten to offer Prince Albert a chair. Despite this, Albert remained standing, talking pleasantly, and took a bunch of cowslips home for the Queen.

Tennyson did not meet Queen Victoria herself until April 1863. Queen Victoria's diary described the event as follows: 'I went down to see Tennyson who is very peculiar-looking, tall, dark.' Alfred Lord Tennyson is reported to have been so emotional at the event that his eyes were filled with tears and he could not stand still. He was also unable to remember the Queen's words, and wrote 'I only remember what I said to the Queen - big fool that I was... Why, what an excellent king Prince Albert would have made.' Queen Victoria however was impressed and asked Tennyson to return and bring his family with him. Hallam Tennyson, then ten, wrote 'Observations: You must always say 'mam' when in Her Majesty's presence. You must stand until the Queen asks you to sit down. Her Majesty does not often tell you to sit down...' Haunted Farringford Few buildings of such historic age and importance escape tales of ghosts and hauntings, and Farringford is no exception. Perhaps through being a hotel, where guests are able to stay overnight within its haunted rooms, the chances of visitors to the site coming across something other-worldly are increased.

Or perhaps its inspiring views and gothic appearance encourages the imaginations of those who sleep there to run wild in flights of frightening fancy. Perhaps we will never know for certain, but one thing we do know are the tales that those who stay there have told. Chief among the tales of Haunted Farringford are those of Emily Tennyson, who is said to have loved life at Farringford so much that she remains there to this day. She is said to haunt the hotel bedroom that was her nursery, looking after and watching any children that stay, and rocking an invisible cradle. Emily Tennyson is also supposed to have been seen walking on the lawn, and Alfred Lord Tennyson himself has been reported to have been seen smoking a pipe and relaxing in a chair in the library 15 as well as walking on Tennyson Down, the nearby hill named after him. There are also tales of a phantom horse-drawn carriage seen around the grounds and the road outside Farringford... Farringford Today Farringford today is a luxury hotel, and has been since the late 1940s.

Although this has the disadvantage of meaning that it is not open to the public in the conventional way, it does mean that those lucky enough to stay are perhaps able to appreciate their visit more and savour the atmosphere of living in Farringford, even if only for a short stay, which is something which people who visit a stately home for an hour or two cannot experience. The hotel has sympathetically preserved the fabric of the house, somehow enabling it to be a hotel without spoiling it, and instead embracing the fact that this was Tennyson's home. This is perhaps due to the hotel remaining small - its 19 rooms prevent it seeming like a vast block of flats, and in each room, in the place of the familiar Gideon's Bible, are copies of the works of Tennyson to browse through and enjoy. Farringford is set in thirty-three acres of parkland and gardens. The hotel has a nine-hole private golf course, a swimming pool, tennis court, croquet, bowling and putting greens as well as a children's play area. These, and the cheaper accommodation in Farringford's converted stables, are discreet and unobtrusive.

A series of 24 chalets, called 'Garden Cottages,' are not quite so successful, but thankfully are positioned out of view of the main house from the drive, and therefore do not spoil the poetic atmosphere which protrudes through a unique building that was a fundamental part of the Victorian Isle of Wight society, and the inspiration for some of the world's greatest poetry. 1 The island's capital, located in the centre. 2 Dimbola Lodge's vegetarian restaurant was sponsored, until her death, by Linda McCartney, wife of the Beatle Paul 3 The author of Origin of Species said of her work 'I like this photograph better than any other which has been taken of me' 4 Author of several works including Barry Lyndon 5 The author of Alice in Wonderland (real name Reverend Charles Dodgson) who wrote many works including The Hunting Of The Snark while staying at Sandown on the island.

6 Author of nonsense poetry, such as The Owl And The Pussy Cat and the inventor of the limerick 7 Half of the team behind the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas 8 Indeed, even Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the key men behind the Unification of Italy 1859 - 1870, visited Tennyson at Farringford in 1864. On his introduction to Julia Margaret Cameron, who was covered in photographic chemical stains, his first reaction was that she was a well-dressed beggar. She is reputed to have replied 'This is not dirt but art!' 9 Emily Lady Tennyson's tomb is in the graveyard of All Saints' Church, as is that of Lionel Tennyson, their second son, who was born in Farringford. 10 His name was Alfred Tennyson, 'Lord' was his title (Lord Tennyson) and not his middle name. 11 Although a few poems in the collection were written by another of his brothers, Frederick. 12 The main reason behind this delay was Tennyson's financial instability, made worse after Tennyson lost all his money following the collapse of a woodworking scheme he had invested in.

13 150 years later, in 2003, staying a night in one of the Farringford Hotel's double or twin rooms cost in low season £80 per night and in high season £120 a night, including breakfast. Low season, including dinner, cost £126 a night and high season £166 a night. Staying in the balcony room cost an extra £20 a night, whereas staying in the Tennyson Room cost an extra £14 a night. Tennyson therefore had quite a good deal. 14 Their first son, Hallam, had been born in August 1852, before they moved to Farringford. 15 The library remains a library dedicated to the works of Alfred Lord Tennyson and is sometimes used as a function room as well as for civil marriages. BBC - Tennyson's Isle of Wight house reveals treasures Tennyson's Isle of Wight house reveals treasures Tennyson lived in Farringford House with his family for 40 years Restorers at poet Tennyson's former Isle of Wight home have found some unique articles concealed in the house.

A book inscribed to his son Lionel and sea serpent carvings have been revealed in the attic at Farringford House. Martin Beisly co-owner said: "We believe these panels were carved by Tennyson himself for the decoration of his writing hut." The isolated house in Freshwater is being restored from a hotel back to its original Victorian glory. Stripped back Tennyson lived in Farringford House for 40 years with his family, wife Emily and two sons, Hallam and Lionel who was born at the house. The attic was converted from servants' quarters to Tennyson's study when he first moved in. It is currently being stripped back from a hotel bedroom to its original state by specialist builders. The carvings are believed to originate from a writing hut Mr Beisly said: "We removed the plasterboard and found behind it the original book shelves built for his study. "He would write here in the morning, go for a walk on the downs, have lunch, write here again in the afternoon and then entertain people for dinner.

"We know from his wife Emily's diaries that the two rooms opposite were turned into bedrooms for the two children, Lionel and Hallam." Behind the plasterboard in the eaves, the builders found hidden fitted cupboards where they unearthed the remains of a book. Writing hut On closer inspection Mr Beisly noticed some faint writing: "We opened it and there was an inscription inside to Lionel from father and mother, dated Paris, October 1897." The carvings found under plasterboard and paint are thought to have been cut by the poet for the writing hut he built in a field near the house. Tennyson wrote most of his poems on the island Here the poet penned his most popular poems; The Charge of the Light Brigade and Crossing the Bar. He said: "In the summer months particularly he would sit and be inspired by the landscape and the views of the sea. Maud was written in this writing house." The restoration is expected to take around 18 months, everything removed is being numbered so it can be put back like a jigsaw puzzle after repairs have been carried out. Tennyson died in 1892 and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Emily Lady Tennyson's tomb is in the graveyard of All Saints' Church, Freshwater. The owners hope to re-open the house and surrounding grounds as a mecca for Tennyson fans. Bookmark with: Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, English Poet, Victorian Poets, Isle of Wight, English Isles | Literary Traveler Exploring the Isle of Wight with Alfred Lord Tennyson Posted on January 25, 2012 By Ann-Maureen Owens The western tip of England’s Isle of Wight was a setting beloved of the Victorian poet laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson, for the last half of his life. Still beautiful, less populated than the rest of the island and soothingly calm, it is easy to understand his attachment. The poet’s presence lingers at ivy-clad Farringford House, his home near Freshwater Bay for over 40 years, where he entertained artists, intellectuals and royalty. It was operating as a hotel, in a faded grandeur sort of way, when I stumbled upon it a few years ago, a charming place where one is happy just sitting in the garden, admiring the views and soaking in the literary atmosphere.

Tennyson’s origins are found much farther north in the Lincolnshire village of Somersby, but the Isle of Wight captured his heart when he rowed around The Needles, the sharp-edged pillars of chalk that extend out to sea, on a visit there as a bachelor in 1846. By then he was a well-known poet and had been engaged to Emily Sellwood for ten years, but bad financial investments prevented him from marrying until he was named poet laureate after William Wordsworth died in 1850. He returned to West Wight a few years later when he was looking for a suitable family home. Poets were the rock stars of the nineteenth century and their work was the stuff of popular culture, so Tennyson found himself hounded by fans in London. He needed a more serene place to work and bring up a family with Emily. They fell in love with Farringford, a secluded Georgian house with gothic windows and beautiful grounds close to a shingled beach, wooded paths and undulating hills.

“I must have that view!” Emily reported herself as saying in her diary, and her husband agreed, “We will go no farther, this must be our home.” Such was the power of poetry in those days that the profits generated by one of Tennyson’s long poems, “Maud,” written soon after moving in, enabled them to purchase the estate after renting it for three years. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had also found the Isle of Wight a favourite family retreat and while the Tennyson family was in the midst of moving in and unpacking their furniture, the prince consort dropped by unannounced, chatted pleasantly and left with a bouquet of cowslips from the garden for the queen. It was seven years later that Tennyson was invited to Osborne House to meet Queen Victoria, a moving event in his opinion, though his ten year old son, Hallam, was less impressed, writing in his diary, “You must always say ‘mam’ when in her majesty’s presence. You must stand until the Queen asks you to sit down. Her Majesty does not often tell you to sit down.” On my own journey to West Wight, a contemplative mood began to envelop me as the train left London’s suburbs behind.

A change at Brockenhurst and a bit of a wait to be shuttled back in time on the kind of train that that needs to be opened by reaching through the window to the outside door handle when disembarking, brought me to Lymington Pier. On the ferry across the Solent, I settled in to accept Tennyson’s invitation, …Take it and come to the Isle of Wight: Where, far from the noise and smoke of town I watch the twilight falling brown All round a careless-order’d garden Close to the ridge of a noble down… The “noble down” is now called Tennyson Down, and my first long breezy walk was to the soaring Tennyson monument overlooking an aquamarine sea, white chalk cliffs and sheep-dotted meadows. Tennyson walked this route daily with his dogs and found inspiration for the poems he laboured over in his study or the summerhouse he designed for the garden. As Tennyson’s guests would have done, I relaxed with friends over drinks on the terrace and coffee in the drawing room. We played a round of golf on the small estate course where croquet or bowls would have been on offer in the poet’s time.

Garibaldi planted a Wellingtonia tree there in 1864 and Tennyson fashioned an outdoor throne for the Queen of Hawaii’s visit in 1865. The view from the drawing room that so captivated Emily Tennyson draws one out through the garden gate to explore the island on foot. A gate at the back of the grounds opens onto a network of paths through woods and fields of National Trust managed land. I followed the poet’s footsteps, noting a footbridge he had built to escape the autograph seekers that eventually found their way to his garden gate, and continued for three miles to The Needles. My return walk brought me past the coloured sand cliffs of Alum Bay and over fields to Warren Farm that serves traditional cream teas of such quality, that this quiet, hidden-away farmhouse kitchen has made the Guardian newspaper’s list of top ten cream tea spots in England. Simple yet luxurious fare in a timeless cottage garden. “Come into the garden, Maud…” Another footpath leads to Dimbola Lodge where Tennyson’s near neighbour, Julia Margaret Cameron, the celebrated Victorian photographer lived.

She moved here after visiting her friends, the Tennysons, at Farringdon while her husband and son were away inspecting their coffee plantations. Cameron named it after the family estate in Ceylon and settled into her new hobby, an unusual one for women at the time. She turned a tumble-down greenhouse that had been the chicken coop into her photographic studio and a root cellar into a darkroom. Cameron would often persuade Tennyson’s famous guests to pose for hours, sometimes with costume changes and dramatic settings. Her ”magnum opus” was an edition of Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” with 24 original photographic images. When Tennyson escorted American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to her door to have a portrait done, he reputedly said, “You will have to do whatever she tells you. I will come back soon and see what is left of you.” Cameron’s home, situated between Farringford and the bay, was originally two cottages when she bought it in 1860 and ten years later expanded by linking them with a central tower in the fashionable Gothic style.

Here, she established a literary and artistic salon, hosting Tennyson, the artist G.F. Watts and his actress bride, Ellen Terry, Charles Darwin, and writers William Makepeace Thackeray, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, among others. Many years later, her great-niece, Virginia Woolf, affectionately satirized this Victorian circle in her play, “Freshwater,” for their concern with the holiness of Art and their sense of sublimated passion. Dimbola Lodge is now a photographic museum and gallery featuring Julia Margaret Cameron’s work, including some of her more famous portraits, along with temporary exhibitions by current photographic artists. With a nod to contemporary popular culture, there is a room devoted to the history of the Isle of Wight Pop Festival and a Jimi Hendrix Memorial Garden where his fans can pose with his life-sized statue amid the lavender and roses and then enjoy lunch or afternoon tea in the Cameron Tearoom.

Still in evidence is a special gate at the back of Dimbola Lodge that Cameron built for Tennyson, so he could walk through the fields from Farringford to visit, undisturbed by the growing number of day trippers who sought out a glimpse of the poet laureate, as fans do in any era. A twenty minute evening stroll inland brought me to the village of Freshwater and through the lych-gate of seventh century All Saints Church. Emily Tennyson is buried in the churchyard, along with sons, Hallam, who eventually became Governor-General of Australia and Lionel, who predeceased his parents after contracting malaria on his way back from India. The poet, who belonged to the nation, rests in London’s Westminster Abbey. Next to the church, The Red Lion, a pub with 11th century origins, keeps pace with the past, brooking no quarter with modern distractions. The establishment prides itself on being so traditional that it discourages cell phone use to the point of insisting the offending customer make a donation to the Lifeboat Charity box. The focus is on real ale and delicious traditional fare such as steak and ale pie or scallops on bubble and squeak, prepared in gourmet fashion.

The pub makes no claims to a connection with Tennyson but surely some of his many famous guests must have found it a pleasant diversion. Tennyson’s home is now being extensively and sensitively restored by its new owners, so it no longer operating as a hotel. I was lucky enough to stay there the summer before it closed in what was once Tennyson’s large and comfortable bedroom with high ceilings, an elaborate fireplace and a view through tall, mullioned windows of the park-like setting and sweeping rose-lined drive. When the restoration is complete, the house will be open to the public for concerts, poetry readings, exhibitions and regular tours. Though no longer a hotel in the strict sense, it will host private functions such as weddings and conferences. Patrons of the restaurant and the self catering cottages tucked out of the way on the 33 acre estate continue to have access to the grounds. The showcase of restored Farringford House is Tennyson’s library where his books, paintings and photographs are displayed.

The Isle of Wight has many other attractions such as Queen Victoria’s favourite residence, Osborne House, just outside the famous yachting town of Cowes, and Carisbrooke Castle, where King Charles I was imprisoned, his attempted escape foiled when he got stuck between the window bars. However, as in Tennyson’s day, the chance to escape crowds and enjoy the scenery is its most irresistible charm. Tennyson wrote some of his most famous works here, including “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” while “Crossing the Bar” was written on the ferry between the mainland and his island home. Some believe he and Emily still haunt their beloved Farringford and report apparitions of them in their favourite rooms and walking on Tennyson down. I understand. I also want to go back there. Isle of Wight: Poet would recognise revamped Farringford Poet would recognise revamped Farringford Monday, November 4, 2013 Farringford, the former Isle of Wight home of Victorian poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which has been undergoing restoration since 2010.

UPDATED MONDAY 10:34* PLANS for the final phase of restoration at the former Isle of Wight home of Victorian poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, have been lodged with planners. A project to transform the 100-acre Farringford estate to what it looked like in its 19th century heyday started in 2010 and the latest planning application centres on the restoration of the former servants’ quarters in the two west-facing wings of the main house. Rebecca FitzGerald, who bought the estate in 2007, said the final phase would remove harmful later additions to the historic, Grade I listed building, while creating high-quality holiday accommodation. She said: "The aim is to restore the environment and landscape as far as possible to one which Tennyson himself would have recognised and which features in so much of his poetry. "The project will preserve Tennyson’s home and create an educational and recreational resource of international historical significance." If approved, the west wings would be converted into three self-contained holiday apartments along with offices and storage facilities.

The hotel kitchen and dining room — built in the 1970s — would be knocked down, allowing Tennyson’s music room to be reinstated and the gardens to the south of the house restored. Eighteen cottages, known as the Emilys, built in 1976, would also be demolished, along with the staff house and store, to enable the walled kitchen garden, complete with potting sheds, greenhouses, summerhouse and arbor, to be reinstated. The plans also include a 'wall house’ to provide manager’s accommodation on site. Farringford was bought by Lord Tennyson in 1856 and he lived there until his death in 1892. The estate remained in the family until 1946 when it was sold to become a hotel. Among the famous visitors to the house were the Prince Consort and Garibaldi, the general who helped unify Italy. *Responding to several comments posted on this story, estate director Matthew Slade confirmed the project was entirely privately funded. He added they were committed to ensuring the public would be able to access the restored house, once the project was completed. EDITOR'S FOOTNOTE.

Several comments were removed from this story due to offensive or potentially libellous content. Users are asked to please keep in mind our House Rules when commenting on stories. The planning application is due to be discussed at Freshwater Parish Council tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6.45pm, in the Memorial Hall. A County Press reporter will attend to report on the issues raised by the public, or councillors, at that meeting. Isle of Wight: Anyone for Tennyson? - Telegraph Isle of Wight: Anyone for Tennyson? The poet's old home on the Isle of Wight makes a fine hotel, says Tiffany Hancock 12:01AM BST 09 Sep 2003 On a cold November evening in 1852, Lord Alfred Tennyson set off for his new home, which he hoped would be "far from noise and smoke of town". He stepped into a small open boat with his wife and servants and rowed across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. Later that night, he wrote, they arrived at a "house half hid in the gleaming wood" where far off in the distance he could hear "the scream of the madden'd beach dragged down by the waves".

It was not an auspicious beginning. My own arrival at Farringford, Tennyson's old house and now a hotel, was less bleak. A short ferry ride in brilliant sunshine culminated in a 40-minute drive to Freshwater Bay. A little later my car was winding its way up the drive towards an "ivied house among the pine trees" with Gothic-style windows and castellated walls. Farringford remains largely unchanged since Tennyson lived there, although his "careless order'd garden" now boasts rose beds, a croquet lawn, bowls, tennis courts and a pool. Inside, the hotel has been careful to retain a Victorian ambience. I was shown to 'Tennyson's Bedroom' complete with peppermint wallpaper, pink velvet chairs, white muslin curtains and watercolours of 19th-century aristocrats. In the centre stood a luxurious four-poster bed so high that it almost needed steps to climb onto. The place is filled with relics and reminders of Tennyson's life. The room next door was once the bedroom of Emily, his wife, and the interconnecting doors are still only lockable from her side.

The flat roof where Tennyson star-gazed and the hidden corkscrew staircase to his study - where he would rush to if he heard unwelcome visitors arriving - are unaltered. In his study, where he insisted on smoking his pipes in private for half an hour, morning and evening, his large kneehole bureau and heavy oak chairs remain, now accompanied by a showcase of his cape, pipe, tobacco box and hat. Downstairs, the drawing room and terrace command a sweeping view of the undulating down. Although the down is a little changed from Tennyson's day - a row of tall trees now obscures Freshwater Bay - it was this view and his love of the surrounding countryside that largely convinced him to buy Farringford. The area is still a walker's idyll with air that is "worth sixpence a pint". I followed 'Tennyson's trail' from Farringford's back-garden gate across the downs to the "milky steep" of the cliff-edge with its "broad-flung ship-wrecking roar" where his memorial stands today.

Tennyson indulged in long, daily walks here - sometimes covering more than 30 miles - murmuring verses and revising them along the way. In later years, he had a wooden bridge built - which is still standing - over the lane to avoid the autograph hunters who gathered at the garden gate. His was not the only well-known name on the island. As Poet Laureate, Tennyson was invited to visit Queen Victoria in East Cowes on numerous occasions. She had bought Osbourne House in 1845 as a refuge from the strain of London life, a place where - in her words - she could "walk anywhere without being followed or mobbed". No longer a royal hideaway, the house and grounds are now open to the public and offer a telling insight into the royal couple's marriage. Yet it is the Durbar room, with its Indian theme, that is most impressive. Built as a tribute to Victoria's reign as Empress of India, every surface is richly embellished, from the deeply coffered ceiling to the sculpted white walls with teak framing.

Inside the showcases, the gifts that she was presented with are no less magnificent: ivory workboxes, silver models of Hindu temples and slippers embroidered with golden thread make for a glittering ensemble. The Queen's residence at Osbourne helped make the Isle of Wight fashionable among the cream of Victorian society: Charles Darwin, William Makepeace Thackeray, C. F. Watts and Julia Margaret Cameron, among others, all moved to Freshwater. Of these, Tennyson was particularly close to Cameron and made frequent visits to Dimbola Lodge (her home), which is now open to the public. Rumours of an affair remain unquenched; the gate that Cameron had built at the back of her garden so that Tennyson could arrive secretly still stands. Inside, the lodge is a shrine to the Victorian greats that Cameron photographed. More than 60 images, including pictures of Edward Lear, Henry Taylor, Robert Browning, Lewis Carroll, Darwin, Thackeray, Watts and Tennyson are displayed. One room is devoted to Idylls of the King, a revolutionary project in which she collaborated with Tennyson in illustrating the characters described in his poetry.

In later years, after Cameron had emigrated to Ceylon, Tennyson became increasingly frustrated by the number of autograph hunters visiting the island and bought Aldworth in Sussex as a summer escape. Yet Freshwater and many of its characters and surrounding countryside had already inspired much of his poetry. He had spent many happy years here; in his own words, "I once half-crazed for larger light, On broader zones beyond the foam, But chaining fancy now at home, Among the quarried downs of Wight". A half-board two-night stay at Farringford Hotel costs from £162 per person through Wightlink Holidays (0870 582 0202; ). Price includes ferry crossings. farringfordestate - YouTube farringfordestate Loading... Working... Once the Isle of Wight home of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Farringford estate now provides self catering accommodation in a peacef... Once the Isle of Wight home of the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Farringford estate now provides self catering accommodation in a peaceful and historic setting.

We have a range of comfortable 4 star cottages within the historic 100 acre estate of open parkland and secluded gardens. The house is undergoing a complete restoration to restore it to its former glory when Tennyson lived here from 1856 to 1892. Show more Show less Farringford House: Freshwater, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight, Poet Laureate, Blackdown, West Sussex, Lurgashall, West Sussex: Amazon.es: Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster: Libros en idiomas extranjeros Libros en idiomas extranjeros AÃ±adir a la Lista de deseos Â¿Tienes uno para vender? Volver atrÃ¡s Ir adelante Escuchar Reproduciendo... Interrumpido EstÃ¡s escuchando una muestra de la ediciÃ³n de audio Audible.

MÃ¡s informaciÃ³n Ver esta imagen Farringford House: Freshwater, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight, Poet Laureate, Blackdown, West Sussex, Lurgashall, West Sussex (InglÃ©s) Tapa blanda – 21 oct 2010 Tapa blanda, 21 oct 2010 "Vuelva a intentarlo" DescripciÃ³n del producto Reseña del editor Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Farringford House is a large manor house, with a farm and 9 hole golf course, located at Freshwater on the Western tip of the Isle of Wight in England. It currently serves as a hotel. It was also the home of Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson who resided here during much of his tenure as Poet laureate until his death in 1892. No es necesario ningÃºn dispositivo Kindle. DescÃ¡rgate una de las apps de Kindle gratuitas para comenzar a leer libros Kindle en tu smartphone, tablet u ordenador. Apple

Question: Farringford House on the Isle of Wight was the home of which poet?
Answer: Alfred, Lord Tennyson