Qualla: Brantwood

Brantwood: Introduction

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Strider52, CC BY-SA 3.0. John Ruskin had never seen the house when he bought it in 1871. He committed to Brantwood - a modest pile of grey stone on the steep wooded eastern shore of Coniston Water - on the recommendation of his friend George William Kitchin, who was then living there. Kitchin and Ruskin had met as young men at Oxford. So when Ruskin paid 1,500 pounds, sight unseen, he was buying not just a building but a friend's enthusiasm. He moved in the following year and stayed nearly thirty. The name itself was a clue: 'brant' is Old Norse for steep, and Brantwood sits exactly where its name says it should.

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Image: Strider52 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Brantwood: An Essential Viewing Point

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David Gearing, CC BY-SA 2.0. Long before any building stood on it, this hillside above Coniston Water was on the maps of early Lake District travellers as 'an essential viewing point.' The original Brantwood was thrown up at the end of the 18th century by Thomas Woodville - just six or eight rooms - and was ...

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Image: David Gearing | CC BY-SA 2.0

Brantwood: Ruskin Arrives, and Rebuilds

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Strider52, CC BY-SA 3.0. Before moving in, Ruskin commissioned repairs: a turret on the southwest corner, a lodge for his valet's family, improvements to the garden. Once installed he filled the house with art. The drawing room held paintings by Gainsborough, Turner, and members of the Pre-Raphaelite Bro...

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Image: Strider52 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Brantwood: A Household of Severns and Visitors

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Simon Palmer, CC BY-SA 2.0. Ruskin did not live at Brantwood alone. He was joined by his cousin Joan Agnew, her husband the artist Arthur Severn, and their growing family. A new dining room was built at the south end of the house in 1878, with seven lancet windows looking across the lake to the Coniston Fel...

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Image: Simon Palmer | CC BY-SA 2.0

Brantwood: From Family Home to National Trust

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pete Chapman, CC BY-SA 2.0. Ruskin died at Brantwood in 1900. In his will he asked that the house should be opened for thirty days each year so visitors could see his collection. The Severns did not honour the wish, and over the following decades they sold many of the better paintings. After Arthur Severn's...

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Image: Pete Chapman | CC BY-SA 2.0

Brantwood: Lithophones and Lakeside Light

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Keith Salvesen, CC BY-SA 2.0. Visitors today see five rooms inside the Grade-II*-listed house. The drawing room still contains Ruskin's secretaire, bookcase, and shell-cabinet. Next door is the study where he worked, with a painting by Samuel Prout. The 1878 dining room looks across the water to the Coniston ...

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Image: Keith Salvesen | CC BY-SA 2.0