William Wordsworth's former home could become Buddhist retreat

Under the plans the main house will be used for events and accommodation

A Buddhist charity could become the new residents of the former home of poet William Wordsworth.

A trust wants to turn Alfoxton Park Hotel, in Somerset, into a retreat for the Triratna community.

Regarded as one of Britain's leading poets, Wordsworth lived at the country house for a year in 1797, with his sister Dorothy.

The property is on Historic England's 'at-risk' register and has been empty for 15 years.

The hotel, where Wordsworth worked with friend and fellow poet Samuel Coleridge, was bought by the Alfoxton Park Trust in 2020 for £1.4m.

Under the trust's plans, which have been submitted to Somerset West and Taunton Council, The Grade II listed main house will become a retreat centre.

The coach house in the park grounds, part of the Quantock Hills, will become a permanent residential community, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

A spokesperson for the trust said: "We believe this will prove a successful, creative, and appropriate use of this very special building.

"Alfoxton will join the other eight retreat centres Triratna already operates around the UK, all of which are thriving."

The Triratna Budhhist movement was founded in 1967 and is "dedicated to communicating Buddhist truths in ways appropriate to the modern world".

Wordsworth composed several works at the property

Wordsworth, who wrote the poem 'Daffodils', composed and published a number of works while living at Alfoxton Park.

These included the 'Lyrical Ballads' which he composed with Coleridge.

Coleridge's famous work 'Rime of The Ancient Mariner' received its first reading in a room at Alfoxton Park, which also housed American troops during World War Two.

It was later used as a hotel until its closure during the mid-2000s, and in 2010 West Somerset Council issued an enforcement notice ordering a property developer to stop housing Polish workers in the "run-down" property.

By the time it was sold in 2020, the building had fallen into disrepair and had been designated 'at-risk'.

The Alfoxton Park Trust said that after the building had been empty for so long, "extensive leaking" had taken place and all the buildings are "uninhabitable in their present condition".

The council will rule on the plans later in the year.

The building has been placed on Historic England's 'at-risk' register due to its condition