John Clare Cottage is a cottage and literary museum in Helpston, Peterborough, United Kingdom. The cottage was the birthplace of English poet John Clare (1793-1864).

John Clare Cottage
Map
General information
Address12 Woodgate
Town or cityHelpston
Coordinates52°38′03″N 0°20′41″W / 52.6342°N 0.3446°W / 52.6342; -0.3446
Named forJohn Clare
OwnerJohn Clare Trust
Website
http://www.clarecottage.org/

The thatched Grade II* cottage[1] at 12 Woodgate, Helpston, originally consisted of five smaller tenement buildings, that were joined into a single structure at a later date.[2]

The cottage was bought by the John Clare Trust in 2005.[3] In May 2007, the Trust gained £1.27 million of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund[4] and commissioned Jefferson Sheard Architects to create a new landscape design and Visitor Centre, including a cafe, shop and exhibition space. The Cottage was restored using traditional building methods and is open to the public.

In 2013 the John Clare Trust received a further grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help preserve the building[5] and provide educational activities for young people visiting the cottage.[6]

The garden behind the cottage is maintained by volunteers, and planted with varieties which would have been seen in Clare's time.[3]

The John Clare Cottage forms part of the Fens Museum Partnership, along with Peterborough Museum and Flag Fen.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1331603)". National Heritage List for England.
  2. ^ www.philbegnett.com (30 March 2008). "Renovation of John Clare Cottage". Youtube. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Home". Clare cottage. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  4. ^ Caines, Matthew (7 May 2013). "Arts head: Sara Blair-Manning, the John Clare Trust and Cottage". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Buildings given £1m lottery funding". BBC News. 14 June 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  6. ^ Stephen Briggs, "Peterborough heritage sites gets big lottery boost", Peterborough Telegraph, 13 June 2013.
  7. ^ "Our Museums". Fens Museums Partnership. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
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