Statue in Watchet dedicated to Samuel Coleridge
and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Comissioned by Watchet Market House Museum from sculpter Alan Herriot it was erected in 2003
Poet and Philosopher
Coleridge first visited Nether Stowey in 1794 during
a walking tour in Somerset when he met Tom Poole, the Stowey tanner,
who was to become a lifelong friend. With the help of Poole, Coleridge
moved to Nether Stowey in January 1797 with his wife Sara and their
new-horn son Hartley. Coleridge wished to lead a simple life, growing
food for his family, reading and above all writing poetry.
In July 1798 William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy
visited and were so enthralled by Coleridge's company that they immediately
decided to rent a mansion called Alfoxden, near Holford, three miles
west of Nether Stowey.
Samuel Coleridge
Within a year of moving to Nether Stowey, Coleridge had
written some of his most famous works: The Rime of The Ancient
Mariner, Frost at Midnight, This Lime Tree Bower my Prison and the opium-inspired
Kubla Khan. In spring 1798 he collaborated with Wordsworth on a volume
of poetry called Lyrical Ballads. Having travelled for several months
in Germany, Coleridge and his family left the cottage in Nether Stowey in October 1799.
During his three years in Somerset, Coleridge walked nearly
every day for miles and miles, drawing inspiration for some of his best-known
works from the beautiful landscape around him.
Sameul Coleridge: Plaque on his residence in Nether Stowey
Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote the poems
Kubla Khan and The Ancient Mariner while living on Exmoor. |
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