Farringford house is the much loved home of Poet Laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson. It opened as a Historic House attraction in the Spring of 2017.
Tennyson lived at Farringford from 1853 until his death in 1892 and composed much of his famous poetry in the house and grounds. His son Lord Hallam Tennyson and his family continued to use the house until 1946 when it was sold to Thomas Cook and became a hotel.
Farringford Estate Limited bought Farringford Hotel and estate in 2007 and in 2012 began a four year restoration programme. The restoration project has brought more of the interesting history of the house to life. Future visitors will be able to appreciate the architecture of the 1802 house with the extensions and improvements the Tennyson family made to the house in 1863-1871 and in 1897-1905.
Using old inventories and contemporary descriptions of the house the rooms have been decorated and furnished to look very much as it did when the poet and his family lived there. Some of the original furniture has been loaned back to the house by the Tennyson family and Lincolnshire County Council.
Tennyson and his wife Emily moved to Freshwater in 1853. They saw it as a quiet place to bring up their family. At Farringford the surrounding landscape, v and setting were of great importance to Tennyson. As a poet he found great inspiration from his newly purchased house and estate. A compulsive walker, he could now climb daily onto High Down behind the house and enjoy the views of the chalk cliffs and sea at Freshwater Bay. In this setting he composed many of his famous poems; The Charge of the Light Brigade, Maud, Crossing the Bar, Enoch Arden and Idylls of the King.
The garden and grounds are currently being replanted and restored to their former glory. Future visitors will be able to walk in the footsteps of the Poet and seek inspiration from nature in the way that Tennyson did.
Tennyson attracted some of the greatest minds of the age. The Tennysons entertained at Farringford a wide variety of artists, scientists, writers and other great minds of the 19th century some of whom chose to settle nearby in Freshwater Bay. Famous Farringford visitors included Prince Albert, Sir John Everett Millais, Holman Hunt, George Frederic Watts, John Herschel, Charles Darwin, Julia Margaret Cameron, Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear.
Farringford House, Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight, PO40 9PE