Trust wants to take poet’s historic Felpham cottage back to how it was in 1800

The Blake Cottage Trust wants to remove the full 1969 extension to the Grade II* listed cottage in Blakes Road, Felpham, including the 20th century garage, leaving all 18th century masonry of the William Blake era cottage intact.

The poet and his wife Catherine lived in the 17th century cottage from 1800 to 1803 and during his time there wrote the verses "And did those feet in ancient time", the preface to his Milton: A Poem in Two Books, which were later set to music as the hymn "Jerusalem".

The trust’s application said this completes the partial removal of the 1969 extension previous approved under FP/129/25/HH and the remaining 18th century section of the Blake era garden wall (the lower part of the north west wall to the 1969 extension) will be fully retained during these works.

A design and access and heritage statement with the application said over the last year, trustees have secured the necessary funding to undertake emergency repairs, including a grant of £243,954 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

They have also commissioned detailed investigations about the archaeology, history and development of the cottage.

“They have appointed highly respected specialists to conserve the fabric of the building, using an archaeologically driven approach and traditional methods and materials,” the statement said. “As works have progressed, they have engaged with experts to explore how the site might be best developed moving forwards, in fulfilment of the trust’s objectives.

“As the new trustees have learned about the cottage, their plans for its care and future presentation have evolved and, recently, they have adopted a guiding principle, this being: ‘as far as is practical, the trustees will seek to return the cottage to the condition experienced by the Blakes’.

“With emergency repairs due to be completed in December 2025 and the positive pressure of the 200th anniversary of Blake’s death looming in 2027, the Trustees have formally progressed a dialogue with Arun District Council (ADC) and Historic England (HE) about development options that would be welcomed and supported.

“This has resulted in permission to remove the mid 19th century fabric of the cottage, in order that works can be progressed to fully reacquire the character and potential of the Blakes’ home.

“The trustees recognise the building’s special interest and heritage significance and keenly acknowledge that ‘history’, ‘form’, ‘material’ (and so much more), is important to the conservation of both. Over the last year they have thoughtfully weighed the options before them, considering the merits and demerits of the key strategies available in regard to the site’s future development and interpretation, scrutinising in great detail the harms the different approaches engender, and how these can best be avoided or minimised.”

The trustees’ want to return the cottage and garden to its Blake era configuration by removing the mid 19th century upper storey to the extension standing on the eastern side of the cottage, reinstating the lost roof to the ground storey and rethatch, lower the garden to its 18th century level and plant appropriately for the timeline.

They say the current building has ‘very successfully misled people about the circumstances of the Blakes’ lives for the last 150 years’.

"This mistake has occurred because the gentrified cottage of the mid-to-late 19th century has long been understood by the general-public and academics alike, as defining the Blakes’ experience in Sussex, whereas

their circumstances were far more challenging, living in a cottage essentially built for agricultural labourers."

The plans can be viewed on the Arun planning portal using the search reference FP/197/25/PL.