Refuge From the Ravens

The poet William Wordsworth wrote about encounters with people on the move, as he walked English roads and byways 200 years ago. These poems, and those of fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, were published as Lyrical Ballads in 1798. Our project is a reply, in poems and song, from people today who are affected by homelessness, or are vulnerable.

Imagine Wordsworth and Coleridge wandering the streets of Manchester and Lancaster in the 21st Century. Whose voices would they hear on those streets? And what would they say?

Refuge From the Ravens rewrites some of Wordsworth’s classic poems into now, using poetry, songs and calligraphy. The project included workshops in Manchester and Cumbria, plus research trips to Grasmere to see the original manuscripts. An immersive exhibition featuring a soundscape, film and manuscripts from the 18th and 21st centuries was exhibited to acclaim at the Wordsworth Grasmere museum and Bury Art Gallery (alongside Turner prints). A leather bound copy of Refuge from the Ravens now sits alongside Wordsworth’s original 1798 Lyrical Ballads in the Wordsworth Grasmere archive. And finally the project was invited to exhibit at the Houses of Parliament in May 2023.

The project was supported by the Heritage Fund. Our thanks to National Lottery Players.

Project Directors

Philip Davenport, Julia Grime 

Artists

Songwriter/musicians Matt Hill and Christine Johnson
Sound artist Sophie Cooper
Textual artist & Calligrapher Stephen Raw
Poets Philip Davenport and Scott Thurston
Film maker Harry Wheeler
Creative producer Julia Grime  

Partners

Wordsworth Grasmere
Lancaster & District Homeless Action Service (LDHAS)
Manna House, Kendal
Invisible (Manchester)
Back on Track, Manchester
Tom Harrison House, Liverpool
Bury Art Museum