John Clare's Cottage

I first came upon John Clare while studying a foundation course with the Open University, back in the 70s. The units covered the Industrial Revolution and the literature, art and music of the time, among other things. I thoroughly enjoyed the course.

I remember studying Wordsworth at great length, but Clare only briefly. Although both were 19th century "nature poets", their lives were very different. Wordsworth travelled widely in Europe and had a circle of literary friends while Clare spent almost his whole life in the village of Helpston, just up the road from here.

If you visit Wordsworth's cottage in the Lake District, you will encounter crowds, but you could have Clare's cottage all to yourself. It's worth a look though, and Helpston is a pretty, stone-and-thatch village with two pubs, an art gallery, village store and a web of walks and cycle routes.

The cottage has been recently restored by the John Clare Trust with a barn out the back housing the reception, shop and cafe area. There is also a flat for an artist-in-residence.

A tour of the house and garden with audio commentary takes about an hour at the most. You can learn a lot about Clare's life and times. He lived through the American War of Independence, Napoleonic Wars, and all the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, but it was the enclosure of the land around the village that effected him most, uprooting him and his family and causing (or aggravating) his mental illness, which was probably bi-polar disorder. He spent years in asylums, far from home.

The buildings and gardens have been restored beautifully, but we felt that it was all a bit sterile. The Trust has succeeded in getting substantial funding for the work and a lot has been spent on first-rate joinery and state of the art interpretation but, although the gentleman in reception could not have been more welcoming or informative, the tour itself lacks the human touch. The cottage is sparsely furnished, probably to allow for a lot of visitors; but as we were the only ones there, it seemed empty. It's all so clean and fresh and in perfect condition, but Clare described it as sagging under the weight of its overgrown thatched roof which had turned green with weeds. The house would have been crowded with family and belongings which are only hinted at.

Ideally, a bit of "living history" with just one person acting the role of Clare or a relative, would bring it all to life, as would a few more personal items left around the place for us to discover.