Tom Poole's house in Castle Street

The Poole family were prosperous tanners in the 18th century and their large tanyard lay behind this house. Tom Poole (d. 1837) would have preferred to study but his father insisted he learnt tanning and he was very successful extending the business and building a bark house, which survives as a private house. However, Tom Poole was able to indulge his love of literature and had a book room at this house. He also became a staunch friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and other literary figures who were welcomed into his house. Thomas de Quincey coming here in search of Coleridge was astonished at the tanner's breadth of knowledge and magnificent library.

The house is one of several houses in Nether Stowey that were rebuilt or refronted with squared red sandstone in the 18th century. A shop was inserted in the right hand side in the 19th century and was occupied by a baker and grocer who built ovens at the rear. In the later 20th century the house was restored and the right hand wall and windows were replaced with modern replicas. The doorcase is modern.

For more about Tom Poole and his friendship with poets read Tom Mayberry's Crucible of Friendship (2000)