Blake Cottage is coming back to life
Conserving William and Catherine Blake’s historic home in Felpham, West Sussex.
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Help shape the future of Blake Cottage
In early 2024 Blake Cottage, in the village of Felpham on the West Sussex coast, was in danger of being lost forever - the roof was on the point of collapse and the fabric was crumbling. The Blake Cottage Trust is rescuing the historic site for the nation.
It was in this small thatched cottage that the great writer, artist and printer William Blake and his wife Catherine found a home for poetry, art and extraordinary imagination. They lived here from 1800 to 1803. The coastal landscape, the cottage and garden inspired William to produce some of his greatest work including the lines we know as the hymn Jerusalem.
Today this Grade II* listed building is the only Blake home to survive intact. The Blake Cottage Trust is working to conserve it and create a special place for everyone to celebrate the couple’s lives, work and enduring influence.
Our generous supporters have helped to save the roof. Now help us restore the cottage and garden and bring this remarkable place fully back to life.
April 2024 · Before restoration
April 2024 · Before restoration
Failing thatch and temporary roof coverings. © The Blake Cottage Trust.
October 2025 · Roof restored
October 2025 · Roof restored
New thatch and repaired roof structure. © The Blake Cottage Trust.
Your financial gift supports the cottage’s restoration and future. Every penny donated supports our work. The Trust’s trustees serve as unpaid volunteers.
There are many other ways you can contribute to this exciting project, for example: volunteer to work on the cottage conservation; help us escort visitors; lend us your professional skills; spread the word about what we are doing.
"I fell in love with my Cottage. I have now better prospects than ever."
"I fell in love with my Cottage. I have now better prospects than ever."
William Blake · letter written from Felpham in 1800.
Watch: The restoration vision
Watch: The restoration vision
Watch Doug Nicholls, Chair of the Trust, explain why Blake Cottage matters and share the vision for its restoration.
Published on YouTube · 8 June 2024
From urgent rescue to a living legacy
From urgent rescue to a living legacy
Supporters, conservation specialists and skilled craftspeople have secured the roof with new timbers and thatch. We received permission to reduce the height of the later eighteenth-century eastern extension and bring it back to the form the Blakes knew.
We need about £1 million to conserve the cottage and garden and prepare them for public opening, guided by research and specialist advice. We hope to begin limited public opening in time for the bicentenary of William Blake’s death in August 2027, depending on conservation progress. Until then, strictly limited visits may be possible by prior arrangement.
Our longer-term ambition is to establish an arts and education centre nearby: a place for exhibitions, a Blake library, printmaking, research and new creative work. This will require about £3 million. Every donation will help turn the rescue of a building into a lasting place for learning and imagination.
A small cottage.
A small cottage.
A place of inspiration.
A place of inspiration.
An extraordinary imagination.
An extraordinary imagination.
An influence that endures.
An influence that endures.
Through our community connections Blake’s influence is already inspiring young people’s art in Bognor and local school projects. A donated collection of over 600 books will help build a library for future discovery.
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“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour”
“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour”
William Blake · Auguries of Innocence
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