About Prospect Cottage

Prospect Cottage is the former home and sanctuary of artist, filmmaker, gay rights activist and gardener Derek Jarman (1942 - 1994). Following a succesful campaign to save the cottage for the nation, you can now step inside the home and workspace of one of Britain's most iconic creative figures. 

As custodians of Prospect Cottage, we are proud to be able to offer visits to this inspiring place. We have been tasked with looking after the cottage, garden and contents. In the coming months, we will also be announcing a residency programme to continue the legacy of Jarman and Prospect Cottage. 

Jarman moved to Dungeness and Prospect Cottage in 1986. The cottage soon became a source of inspiration to all who visited and a creative hub where his artistic practices and collaborators came together. 

Prospect Cottage continues to represent the most complete distillation of his pioneering creativity. It was here that Jarman worked across film, art, writing and gardening: from his 1990 film The Garden starring Tilda Swinton, to his journal, Modern Nature, to poetry etched in the glass, to driftwood sculptures and the remarkable garden he created on the shingle beach.

More than 25 years after his death, Prospect Cottage remains a site of pilgrimage for people from all over the world who come to be inspired by Dungeness, Prospect Cottage and by Jarman’s legacy. The cottage remains an inspiration thanks to Keith Collins (1966 - 2018), Jarman’s close companion in his final years, to whom he bequeathed the cottage.