Fans of William Blake will be flocking to Tate Britain from early September for an exhibition of the poet and artist. Many will know that Blake lived from 1800‑03 in a cottage in Felpham, West Sussex, where he wrote And did those feet in ancient time, later set to music as Jerusalem by Hubert Parry and, of course, a Last Night of the Proms regular.
There were high hopes for the cottage after it was bought from a local family in 2015 for £500,000 by a newly established Blake Cottage Trust. The bulk of the purchase money came from a fund set up in the will of a multimillionaire, who made his fortune from concrete. But four years on, the house, which is Grade II* listed, is in a state of neglect, with its thatched roof and rafters needing urgent repairs.
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