Brothers Parting Stone, Grisedale Tarn
More Articles in the Grasmere to Patterdale subsection
Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere
Wordsworth Parting Stone, Grisedale, Coast to Coast
The Brother’s Parting Stone — also known as the Wordsworth Stone — commemorates the final meeting between William Wordsworth and his brother John in September 1800. The brothers, accompanied by their sister Dorothy, walked together from Dove Cottage in Grasmere to Grisedale Tarn, where they said farewell for the last time. Four years later John was lost at sea when his ship was wrecked off Weymouth.
The memorial stone, inscribed with lines from William’s elegiac poem “The Brother’s Parting,” stands beside the Coast to Coast path opposite Cofa Pike on Fairfield. It lies between the Grisedale Beck and the old route over Grisedale Hause, marked by a small bronze plaque affixed to the weathered rock.
Brothers Parting Stone
The Brother’s Parting Stone is a large weathered boulder near the stepping stones at the outflow of Grisedale Tarn. It bears two engraved verses from “The Brother’s Parting,” a poem written by William Wordsworth in memory of his brother John. John Wordsworth, captain of the Earl of Abergavenny, was drowned four years after their last meeting here when his ship was wrecked off Weymouth in 1805.
John Wordsworth Memorial
The carved inscription on the Brother’s Parting Stone has grown faint with time, its letters softened by two centuries of mountain weather. The words are taken from “In Memory of My Brother, John Wordsworth,” William Wordsworth’s elegiac poem recalling their final meeting at Grisedale Tarn in 1800. Though the stone’s lines are now difficult to read, the verses live on in his published works.
Site of the Parting Stone
The Stone is circled yellow
The Brother’s Parting Stone is marked by a small metal plaque affixed to a large boulder midway between Grisedale Beck and the Patterdale path, just below the stepping stones at the tarn’s outflow. From the Coast to Coast path, the plaque and rock can be seen across the beck — a subtle landmark in an open sweep of fellside.
The Wordsworth Society
In 1881, the Wordsworth Society arranged for verses from William Wordsworth’s elegy In Memory of My Brother, John Wordsworth to be inscribed on a rock near the place where the family last parted. The chosen stone lies close to the path by the stepping stones at Grisedale Tarn, where William, John, and Dorothy stood for a final time before John continued south toward Patterdale.
The inscription, now weather-worn and difficult to read, was taken from the first half of the third and seventh verses of the poem:
“Here did we stop; and here looked round
While each into himself descends,
For that last thought of parting friends
That is not to be found.
Brother and friend, if verse of mine
Have power to make thy virtues known,
Here let a monumental Stone
Stand — sacred as a Shrine.”
The Earl of Abergavenny (1805)
The Earl of Abergavenny was one of a convoy of East Indiamen bound for China via Bengal. These great merchantmen, licensed by the East India Company, carried both cargo and passengers and were often armed for protection.
Caught in heavy weather, the convoy became separated from its escort, HMS Weymouth, and attempted to return to Portland Roads for shelter. A pilot came aboard to guide the Abergavenny around the Shambles Bank, but she grounded and began taking on water faster than her pumps could manage.
After two hours she was refloated, but flooding made her unmanageable. Efforts to beach the ship on Weymouth Sands failed, and she sank with the loss of around 260 lives — including Captain John Wordsworth, William’s brother. His body was later recovered and interred at All Saints Church, Wyke Regis, near Weymouth.
(1805) Earl of Abergavenny
This painting by Thomas Luny depicts The Earl of Abergavenny before its tragic wreck off Portland Bill, near Weymouth, on 5 February 1805. John Wordsworth, William’s brother, was captain of the vessel and perished with about 260 others when the ship sank. It was one of a convoy of East Indiamen bound for China via Bengal. The original artwork is held by the Portland Museum Trust.
Hiking the Coast to Coast trail guide
Hiking the Coast to Coast is a digitally enhanced eBook designed to accompany you on your journey along the Coast to Coast path. Available on Apple Books for iPhone, iPad and Mac, the guide includes:
• Mapping with interactive features
• Step-by-step route directions
• Hundreds of colour photographs
• Route conditions in different weather
• Historical and cultural points of interest
Whether you’re planning your trip or already on the trail, it’s a practical and beautifully illustrated resource to carry with you.
