Helm Crag

John White Abbott toured the Lake District for a week on his way back from Scotland in July 1791. Throughout the journey he used a sketch book, but often enlarged the format by using part of the adjoining sheet, as in the present drawing. This watercolour depicts Helm Crag on Grasmere Lake which sits prominently at the end of a ridge and is one of the most recognised hills in the District. Dove Cottage was the home of William and Dorothy Wordsworth when they went to live in retirement among their native mountains in December 1799. It became too small for them when William married and had children, and the family moved in 1808. It is now preserved as a Wordsworth Museum.