In the little village of Rodmell in East Sussex, about ten miles east of Brighton, literary tourists find, to their own great surprise, a simple cottage that used to be the summer house of Virginia and Leonard Woolf. In 1919 they both fell in love with “Monk’s House“, located in the middle of unspoilt scenery not far from the coast, and over the years they refurbished and extended their country house until it became their permanent home.

This presentation will try to convey to the audience the very intimate atmosphere of this “unpretending house“, a small but precious National Trust property. Only four rooms on the ground floor are open to the public, but they are beautifully furnished with Virginia’s and Leonard’s belongings. Many of Virginia Woolf’s bestselling novels were written here, some of them in the “Writing Lodge“ at the edge of the orchard. The arrangement of the colourful gardens can be attributed to Leonard’s creativity. Virginia and Leonard spent many happy hours together here in their country retreat, away from the hustle and bustle of London. Also, they welcomed their friends from the “Bloomsbury Group“ here in Sussex and enjoyed their company inside and outside the house. But tragedy struck in 1941 when Virginia drowned herself in the River Ouse, not far away from Monk’s House. Leonard continued to live here until his death in 1969. The ashes of Virginia and Leonard are buried in the garden where two busts of them remind the visitors of their rich lives and accomplishments.

The presentation was first given as part of the course “Touring Britain“ at the VHS Wiesbaden. The idea behind this course is to go on a virtual tour through Britain and visit places of national interest that allow the participants to read and discuss further texts of historical, cultural or literary importance.

Sie sind sich nicht sicher, ob dieser Kurs zu Ihrem Sprachniveau passt? Dann nutzen Sie gerne einen unserer Sprachtests zur Selbsteinstufung unter folgendem Link: https://www.vhs-wiesbaden.de/fachbereiche-und-projekte/beratung/einstufungstests.

Gerne sind wir bei Fragen oder Beratungsbedarf per E-Mail unter sprachberatung@vhs-wiesbaden.de für Sie da.