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Farringford and TennysonFreshwater, Isle of Wight |
Farringford House at Freshwater Bay was for many years the home of the English 19th Century poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire in 1809. He moved to Farringford House at Freshwater Bay in 1853. During his time there her wrote many of his most famous works, including , "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and "Maud" This is traditional view of Tennyson, wearing his hat and gown from an undated postcard. Farringford House itself was built at the end of the 18th century. It was leased by Tennyson on a three year lease for £2 weekly with an option to purchase, which he subsequently did. The house remained in the ownership of the Tennyson Family for some time after his death in 1892 and is now a hotel. During his time at Farringford, Tennyson has a friendship with the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron who lived nearby at Dimbola house |
Here are various views of Farringford taken from my collection, old postcards are sometimes poorly produced and grainy, I've done my best to scan them. Please click thumbnails for full size picture. Dates are from the card or my estimate (where possible).
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A pre 1904 card of Farringford, described as "Tennyson's House.(Hildesheimer) |
This card is dated 1905 and is part of the 'Oilette' Tennyson Country series. (Tuck) |
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Farringford around 1910 |
A similar undated view. (London View Company) |
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Another undated view of Farringford House. |
Springtime, Farringford Park. Produced by local photographer, H K Merwood and is probably from the early 1950's. |
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Another Merwood card showing a summer scene at Farringford, posted in 1950. |
Farringford, 1970. (Dixon) |
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This card is undated, and shows the Tennyson Museum at Farringford House. To my knowledge this no longer exists. |
A card of the view from Farringford, dated around 1905. The view towards the cliffs of Blackgang have been considerably foreshortened at the expense of the white chalk cliffs of Compton Down. This another card from the 'Oilette' Tennyson Country series. (Tuck) |
Tennyson built himself a summer house in a nearby clearing known as Maiden's Croft which gave him views over High Down to the south west and Freshwater Bay to the south. In this summer house he reputedly wrote the poems "Enoch Arden" and "The Holy Grail".
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This card is dated 1905 and is in the 'Oilette' Tennyson Country series. (Tuck) |
A later (but undated) picture of the summerhouse. |
Freshwater | Totland | Alum Bay and the Needles | Yarmouth | Shalfleet | Newtown | Calbourne | Carisbrooke Castle | Newport and Carisbrooke | Cowes and Gurnard | Osborne House | Wootton, Fishbourne and Quarr | Ryde | Seaview | Bembridge | Brading | Sandown | Shanklin | Godshill | Arreton Valley | Ventnor | St Lawrence and the Undercliff | St Catherine's Lighthouse's | Niton | Blackgang Chine | Blackgang and Chale | Brighstone and Shorwell | Mottistone to Compton