Barrett Browning Institute
We’re delighted to announce our move into the Barrett Browning Institute, a remarkable historic building in the heart of our market town, built in 1895 in memory of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning who lived at Hope End near Ledbury. It is owned by Ledbury Places whose volunteers are working tirelessly to secure the building’s future for the community.
Lockdown means that the move will be gradual. We hope to open the building to the public in Spring 2021.
It’s Ledbury Poetry Festival’s mission to enable everyone to enjoy poetry and to develop and nurture the creative use of language. Given the poetic heritage of Ledbury, our vision is that our town will continue to be seen as the home of poetry – welcoming everyone, developing creativity, changing lives.
Ledbury Poetry Festival’s aim is that the space will become a flexible home throughout the year for our Community and Education outreach programmes. The building will also offer us the chance to develop pioneering projects such as Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics, and new digital initiatives including poetry workshops online.
A diverse range of sources provide our main funding and we are very grateful to every trust, charitable foundation and individual sponsor for supporting the Festival’s valuable work. If Ledbury Poetry Festival is to occupy this Barrett Browning Institute for the long-term, then it will be vital to work closely with Ledbury Places to raise capital funding to fully renovate and refurbish the building.
