New funding to 'save' William Blake's cottage

The West Sussex cottage where poet and artist William Blake wrote the words for Jerusalem has secured National Lottery funding.

Blake's thatched cottage in Felpham was awarded just under £244,000 to address "urgent structural" concerns in the walls and chimneys and preserve and restore its roof and timbering.

The money will also be spent on developing a "long-term, viable plan" for the building, which the Blake Cottage Trust has previously warned was in "real danger of being lost forever".

Doug Nicholls, chair of the trust, said the "generous grant" would allow them to undertake essential conservation work and ensure the safety of the historic cottage.

Richard Clemmow, a trustee at the trust, said the building was in a "desperate state".

He said that last autumn the trust had put up a "tin hat" to protect the roof, which had let in water from rain and storms.

Earlier this year, the trust stripped the rotten thatch to prevent the roof from collapsing under its weight.

"It feels like a very important moment in our urgent battle to save Blake's Cottage," Mr Clemmow added.

Blake and his wife Catherine lived in Felpham between 1800 and 1803.

Here he wrote Milton: A Poem that contained in its preface the poem And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time, which was later set to music as the hymn Jerusalem – sometimes sung as an unofficial English national anthem.

Mr Nicholls added the trust's vision was to "create a vibrant centre that informs, inspires, and celebrates the extraordinary legacy" of the couple.

The Blake Cottage Trust has said it needs to raise £3m in the longer term.

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