The Second Parlour
(or Bookroom)
The second parlour, to the
left of the passage, had by the time the Coleridges arrived
been converted from the original kitchen. The original
kitchen fireplace and the remains of a bread oven are
probably concealed behind the present fireplace (which is
not original to the cottage). The doorway to the service
room which Sara used for cooking was in the position of the
cupboard at the foot of the stairs.
Contents of second parlour described clockwise from the door.
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Next to the door is a watercolour of Greta Hall, Keswick, where Coleridge and his family settled in July 1800.
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Pictures of his children Hartley, Derwent and Sara are to the left of the main window.
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On the right, and in the embrasure of the second window, are pictures of Dorothy Wordsworth in old age, William Wordsworth, and other friends including Charles Lamb, Thomas Poole, and William Hazlitt.
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Left of the fireplace is an early 18th century brass lantern clock by Thomas Moore of Ipswich
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Over the mantle is an engraving of the painting by Rippingille usually called 'The Stage Coach Breakfast'.
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To the left is a cast of Hamo Thornycroft's bust of Coleridge, 1884, the original of which is in Westminster Abbey. To the left of the door are pictures of Coleridge at various ages, including a reproduction of the remarkable portrait by Moses Houghton, c. 1832.