Billy Bragg during a visit to the Brit school in London, October 17, 2023
MUSICIAN Billy Bragg is auctioning one of his guitars to help restore a former home of poet William Blake.
The 17th-century cottage in Felpham, west Sussex, is in urgent need of repairs including a new thatched roof.
Blake lived in the cottage for three years from 1800 and wrote the words to the hymn Jerusalem during his time there.
The Blake Cottage Trust, which calls the cottage “one of the most important buildings in English literary history,” is hoping to raise £175,000 for restorations.
In the long term, trustees want to raise £3 million to build an education centre dedicated to the poet’s legacy.
Mr Bragg has put his Epiphone 2016 Olympic Masterbilt Archtop semi-acoustic guitar on auction website eBay.
The musician used the guitar during his Shine A Light tour with Joe Henry in 2016 and 2017.
The winner will collect the guitar from the musician in person, in Dorchester, Dorset.
