Billy Bragg to auction guitar for Blake's cottage

Songwriter Billy Bragg is auctioning one of his guitars to help restore the West Sussex cottage where poet William Blake wrote Jerusalem.

The Grade II listed cottage in Felpham urgently needs £175,000 towards a new thatched roof and structural repairs, according to the Blake Cottage Trust.

Trustees say they want to raise £3m in total to restore the cottage and its gardens as well as building an educational centre to help continue Blake's legacy in writing, printing and engraving.

Bragg has described the cottage as "one of the most important buildings in English literary history".

Blake lived in the cottage from 1800 to 1803 and penned the words to what would become the hymn Jerusalem while in residence.

Hubert Parry put Blake's words to music in 1916, 89 years after the poet and artist's death.

Bragg has long been associated with William Blake, recording his own version of Jerusalem in 2006 and releasing album William Bloke in 1996.

Blake Cottage Trust chairman Doug Nicholls said: "It was a fantastic surprise to us when Billy wrote to us to say he would like to auction a guitar to support our work.

"He like many other popular entertainers are aware of our work and are really keen to support it.

"This is an absolutely brilliant way to give us some support."

The building was bought by the Blake Society and placed in trust in 2015 with a view to restoring the property.

But in 2021 the cottage was placed on English Heritage's at-risk register.

Mr Nicholls said: "The person who has without any doubt been the most impactful and influential in our cultural tradition, William Blake, doesn't have any of his residences preserved.

"This is the one of course where he had a very creative period and he wrote Jerusalem."

Bragg is accepting bids on his Epiphone 2016 Olympic Masterbilt Archtop semi-acoustic guitar.

On the eBay auction page, Bragg said he used the instrument extensively during his 2016 and 2017 Shine A Light tour with American singer-songwriter Joe Henry.

The successful bidder will collect the guitar from Bragg in person in Dorchester, Dorset.

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