A digital poetry installation across three of the former homes of Dorothy and William Wordsworth, The Living Stone reflects on the different ways in which language shapes experiences of the Lake District. Visitors to Dove Cottage, Allan Bank and Rydal Mount can search for bird names engraved on slates and message them to 07858 382728 to receive poems relating to each site. The poems combine material from the Wordsworths’ notebooks with the words of fell runners, notices to airmen, weather forecasts, and the hum of social media to investigate the connections between writing and place.
The Living Stone was created with technologists from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, UCL, in partnership with Lancaster University, the Wordsworth Trust, the National Trust and Rydal Mount. It was possible thanks to funding from PETRAS and the EPSRC. Text messages are charged at standard network rates.
