The Jerwood Centre at the Wordsworth Trust was built to house the Wordsworth Trust’s collections of books, manuscripts, and fine art, which were Designated in 1997 by the Secretary of State as an outstanding collection of national and international importance. It is the only Designated collection in Cumbria, and contains 4,000 named artists and writers, chiefly of the Romantic period, roughly the 80 years of Wordsworth’s lifetime, 1770-1850. The collection is centred on English poetry, following the contentions of the founding Trustees in 1891 that Dove Cottage, the hamlet of Town End, and the collection, should be for the eternal possession of those who love English poetry from all over the world. As the Centre for British Romanticism, the Wordsworth Trust, with its wealth of manuscripts, books, drawings and pictures, provides the full context for understanding and celebrating a major cultural moment in history in which Britain played a profound role. Through scholarship and education, the Jerwood Centre at the Wordsworth Trust will allow for the exploration of the great themes, the age of revolutions, the discovery of nature, the new emphasis on the human mind and the creative imagination and reinterpret them for new generations. The Jerwood Centre ensures that this nationally important collection stays in Grasmere, and will be fully accessible, within the national conservation guidelines. The presence of this new infrastructure will protect and promote the work of the Wordsworth Trust, as it seeks to reach out to a general public, feeding its desire for knowledge and for inspiration, and thereby connecting the rich past with all the potential of the present.