Save & Restore William Blake's Cottage

Aim

Save & Restore William Blake's Grade II* Cottage in Sussex for the Nation. Help us open it to the public for the first time in its history.

Our Story 

The Blake Cottage Trust, Charity Number: 1160716 

Imagine standing inside the only surviving home of William Blake – poet, artist, visionary & creator of 'Jerusalem' – a place that has remained closed to the public throughout its entire 250 year history.

Now imagine losing it forever...

Blake Cottage in Felpham, West Sussex, is one of the most important literary and artistic buildings in Britain. It is the only house that William Blake ever lived in that survives today. This modest thatched cottage was home to William and Catherine Blake between 1800 and 1803, a period of extraordinary creativity during which Blake produced some of his most celebrated works, including the words that would later become 'Jerusalem', often described as England's most-loved, (unofficial) national anthem.

Building at Risk

Yet today this nationally significant building is at risk. 

The Grade II* cottage is listed on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register as Category A – the highest level of risk. Rainwater enters the building because the north side remains exposed to the elements. The windows are crumbling and parts of the cottage and garden are unsafe and inaccessible. 

Without urgent intervention, this irreplaceable piece of our national story remains vulnerable and could be lost forever.

Blake Cottage Today

National Monument

Art historian and broadcaster Andrew Graham-Dixon visited the cottage in 2025 describing the cottage as an important 'national monument'. He remarked:  "I can't think of another historic building anywhere in this country that I want to see thriving and prospering more".

Andrew Graham-Dixon Visiting Blake Cottage

Creativity & Legacy

We aim to restore, conserve, interpret and open Blake Cottage by 2027, marking the bicentenary of William Blake's death through the national #Blake200 celebrations.

It's a BIG ask and the clock is ticking but it is definitely achievable with your help.

The Blake Cottage Trust, Chair, Doug Nicholls, explains why we should restore the cottage now...

Doug Nicholls, Chair of Trustee at Blake Cottage

"Blake gave his priceless images and words free of charge to the world yet was buried in a pauper's grave. 

His imagination was particularly stirred during his three year stay in the cottage. I believe the greatest token of appreciation the world could now give to him would be to ensure that this wonderful place can be transformed by 2027, when we commemorate the bicentenary of his death, into a place of creativity and legacy as the nation has done for most of our other great writers and artists."

Community Engagement

We are working with many community-based partners to celebrate Blake's legacy including local schools, universities, other heritage attractions, charities, festivals, musicians, libraries and theatres to name a few. 

If you would like to partner with us for Blake's bicentenary or in general, please get in touch. We'd love to hear from you.

St Mary's Church, Felpham

Church & the Angel

During December 2025 we partnered with St Mary's Church in Felpham to project a Blake-inspired Angel of hope during the community's Carol Services. The Angel illuminated the walls inside the church and acted as a beacon of light on the church roof - a moving symbol of shared purpose between church and cottage to launch the countdown to #Blake200

Musical Legacy

We were also excited to host a recent visit to the cottage by our patron Bruce Dickinson of the legendary band, Iron Maiden. His huge interest in Blake and in the cultural energy he inspires has opened up exciting possibilities for support. 

Bruce’s visit was covered by BBC Sussex. 

He told them: ”It’s incredible, it’s intimate…The thatch would have been that colour… His printing press is being remade and they’ll be printing again after 200 years.” 

Bruce standing outside Blake Cottage in Felpham, West Sussex

Watch and hear about his visit:

Bruce Dickinson Visits Blake Cottage

Understand Why Bruce Dickinson is Fighting to Save Blake's Cottage 

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Our Journey to Date

2014

The Blake Cottage Trust was founded in 2014 by The Blake Society. It had one clear purpose: 

2024

New Board of Trustees was formed under the careful guidance of new Chair, Doug Nicholls.

Since acquiring the property, we have already achieved significant milestones:

2025

£244,000 Grant awarded to the Trust by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This enabled essential stabilisation works, including roof repairs, re-thatching and timber replacement to prevent collapse, as well as the consolidation of wall tops and chimneys. 

Project Coordinator 

For the first time, an experienced museum & heritage professional was appointed as Consultant Project Coordinator to oversee the project. Kindly supported by NLHF.

2025/26

New Thatched Roof of 'Rusted Gold'

Blake Cottage with new Thatched Roof

The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded The Blake Cottage Trust £244,000 grant to begin restoring Blake's Cottage with a new thatched roof. 

We secured the building when its roof was in imminent danger of collapse. We then successfully re-thatched the cottage, safeguarding its future. The new roof has been meticulously crafted in material and style of the 1800s, famously echoing Blake's own description of it having a roof of 'rusted gold'.  

Structural Revival

As well as the roof being completely replaced, we also carried urgent timber replacement. Completely rotten timbers were replaced with sustainable timbers sourced locally. We also carried out urgent chimney and wall repairs. Without this work, the cottage would have collapsed and been lost forever. 

Lime-washed new timbers now in place & a fire-proof yellow membrane

A massive thank you to our many volunteers who helped, including our Chair, manually prepare for some of the new roof timbers for installation.

Conservation & Research 

The restoration and conservation efforts has focused on returning the cottage to the exact state that the visionary poet and his wife Catherine would have known when they lived there from 1800-1803. This careful conservation management approach has been supported by many organisations including Historic England and Arun District Council.

We have also undertaken extensive architectural, archaeological and historical research to better understand the building and its significance. 

Historical Accuracy

As part of the conservation process, the eastern extension of the cottage was carefully lowered to match how the cottage appears in Blake's epic poem 'Milton'. The image below, painted by Blake, reveals how the cottage would have looked when he lived there.

These investigations have produced remarkable discoveries. We have identified William and Catherine Blake's original bread oven and uncovered evidence showing where their printing press was located within the cottage. These discoveries provide a unique opportunity to bring Blake's world back to life for future generations.

But there is still much more to do...

Front Exterior of Blake Cottage Today

Our Vision

Our vision is to urgently save this cultural landmark for future generations. 

We need your help to achieve this including restoring and replanting William Blake's garden.

Future Plans

We plan to restore the cottage and entire site in keeping with the Blake period of residence, including William Blake's garden. It will be made safe for visitors and fully accessible. It will be open to the public as a nationally important visitor attraction for the first time in it its history, in time for Blake's bicentenary in 2027.

In the future, we hope to create an additional educational, arts and cultural centre encouraging repeat visits and community-based activities.

Making History

For the first time ever, visitors will be able to step inside Blake's home, stand inside and experience the spaces where he actually lived and worked and discover how this remarkable cottage inspired some of the most influential works in British culture.

We want Blake Cottage to become:

• A restored and conserved heritage site of national significance

• A landmark of cultural significance charting William Blake's life and work

• An engaging visitor attraction welcoming local, national and international audiences

• A centre for learning, creativity and inspiration

• A community hub supporting education, wellbeing and artistic participation

• An accessible heritage destination open to everyone

The restored cottage will feature Blake's reconstructed printing press based on our research, allowing visitors to explore the techniques Blake used to create his illuminated books. We also plan to restore the original bread oven as part of telling the everyday story of William and Catherine Blake's life together.

Outside, the historic garden will be restored using painstaking archaeological evidence, documentary research and Blake's own depictions of the cottage. The garden will be planted as carefully as possible following detailed research into the exact species and plants once chosen by Blake in his original seaside garden. 

The garden space will become a beautiful and thriving sensory landscape that supports biodiversity, improves accessibility and provides opportunities for community-led art and nature projects. 

Using technology, we will also try to recreate the early 1800s sea-view for visitors that William and Catherine Blake once enjoyed from the cottage.

How We Will Spend the Money Raised

Every contribution will directly help us move closer to opening Blake Cottage in 2027.

Funds raised will support the initial phase:

• Essential conservation and restoration works to protect the building from water ingress and structural deterioration

• Repair and restoration of the exposed north side of the cottage

• Conservation of historic features and interiors

• Further professional archaeological investigation

• Accessibility improvements throughout the cottage and garden

• Restoration and reimagining of the historic garden as a sensory and biodiversity-rich environment

• Volunteer opportunities and skills development programmes

• Preparations to safely welcome visitors for the first time in the cottage's history

Why Your Support Matters - Once in a Generation Opportunity

The year 2027 marks 200 years since William Blake's death. Around the world, people will celebrate his extraordinary legacy. We believe there could be no more fitting tribute than opening the doors of Blake Cottage for the first time and sharing this special place with everyone.

By supporting this campaign, you are not simply helping to repair a building. You are helping to save a nationally important cultural landmark, protect a fragile historic site, create new educational opportunities, support local tourism and community engagement, and ensure future generations can experience the place that inspired one of Britain's greatest creative minds.

Every donation, large or small, brings us one step closer to making this vision a reality.

Join us on the journey to #Blake200. Help save Blake Cottage. 

Help open its doors for the first time. Help create a lasting legacy for William and Catherine Blake, for the local community and for the nation.

Blake wrote of building Jerusalem 'in England’s green and pleasant land.' In Felpham, that work continues - carefully, courageously...and together.

Together, we can transform Blake Cottage from an endangered historic building into a living place of creativity, learning and inspiration. 

#Blake200

THANK YOU for your support. 

We are genuinely grateful for every penny raised.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 27th August 2026 at 11:51am