Farringford

About

Book a tour to avoid disappointment, please visit https://farringford.digitickets.co.uk/tickets

Farringford on the Isle of Wight was home to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate from 1850 until his death in 1892. On seeing the view from the drawing room window of this imposing gothic house for the first time, the great poet’s wife, Emily, exclaimed, ‘I must have that view!” Farringford became their home in 1853, and would remain with the family for two successive generations. It was here that Tennyson found the quiet and relative seclusion he needed in order to write. He drew inspiration from the surrounding landscape, and lines would come to him as he strode the downs in his distinctive wide-awake hat and cloak. Both Idylls of the King and The Charge of the light Brigade were written in his library, with its commanding view of the down and sea, beyond the “careless, ordered garden”, as once described by the famous poet, who favoured informal planting schemes. Tennyson was a keen gardener, regularly planting shrubs, raking leaves, and rolling seaweed onto the lawns for fertiliser, gathered from his coastal walks. His love of the natural world was such that he felt great remorse if flowers were ever picked from the garden, or gathered from the woods or down land.

Farringford is now fully restored and furnished to much as it would have been in Tennyson’s day, and includes important artefacts original to the household. The house and grounds, including the award-winning walled garden with its colourful planting scheme, based on descriptions from Emily Tennyson’s Journal, and on the striking watercolours of Helen Allingham, are open to the public from early April to the end of October, Wednesday through to Saturday. The house offers pre-booked guided tours. A separate ticket is available for those who just wish to visit the grounds and the walled garden, for which no booking is required.

Please note that we do not have a cafe or gift shop at Farringford. A limited selection of soft drinks and some Tennyson related books and postcards are available from the Ticket Office.