Holiday Homes in Cockermouth

On the quieter north-western edge of the Lake District, where the rivers Cocker and Derwent meet, the handsome Georgian town of Cockermouth offers a calmer alternative to the busy honeypots. It lies just outside the national park boundary, a town of broad streets and independent shops with an independent spirit to match, and it makes a lovely base for the north-western fells, the lake at Buttermere and the nearby Cumbrian coast.

Cockermouth's proudest claim is literary. The poet William Wordsworth was born here in 1770, and the elegant Georgian townhouse of his childhood, Wordsworth House, is now cared for by the National Trust and open to visitors, complete with its riverside garden. The town has long been a place of brewing too, home to the historic Jennings Brewery where the Cocker joins the Derwent beneath the castle. Add a colourful main street, good food and a genuine sense of community, and Cockermouth is a pleasure to come back to each evening.

The position is quietly excellent. The dramatic north-western fells and the beautiful valley of Buttermere are within easy reach, Keswick and Derwentwater lie a short drive east, and the Solway coast is close at hand for a change of scene. For a relaxed, characterful base away from the crowds, with the wilder, less-visited side of the Lakes on the doorstep, settle into one of our Cockermouth holiday homes.