| Date: | 22nd. September 2015 | |
| Blog Status: | Complete (not visited) | |
| County: | CUMBRIA | |
| Location: | Wray Castle | |
| Type: | Historical Building, Gardens | |
| Sub-Type: | None | |
| Viewed by: | Unseen. Researched information for reference. | |
| Car Park: | Free parking for NT members else Pay 'n' Display | |
| Scene Rating: | Not yet seen. Not rated. |
Please note:
all data and opinions presented on this site are offered in good faith,
but they are advisory only and are utilised at the risk of the user.
The authors can accept no blame or liability for any loss or accident or
other negative effect resulting from errors, omissions or data that has
changed over time.
Original photographs found on this website are Copyright © Richard Baskerville 2015, All Rights Reserved. If small versions of other photographs are found here, they act only as links to larger versions on their originating websites. Such images may be copyrighted by their original owners. Please see the linked websites for copyright details.]
Original photographs found on this website are Copyright © Richard Baskerville 2015, All Rights Reserved. If small versions of other photographs are found here, they act only as links to larger versions on their originating websites. Such images may be copyrighted by their original owners. Please see the linked websites for copyright details.]
Wray Castle: Introduction
"Wray Castle" is not really a castle at all, although - with its castellations and profusion of arrow-slits - it looks more like a Norman castle than most genuine Norman castles do (apart from being in a much better state of repair!)
Built as a kind of Romantic folly in 1875, it sits on a hillside above the western side of Windermere (the lake) - roughly opposite Brockhole jetty.
The "castle's" medieval shape is tantalisingly visible to cruise boats returning to Bowness from Waterhead - which is indeed how we first came to see it (during our Windermere Red Cruise (although it was so strongly backlit by the late afternoon sun that a photograph was impossible. Take the cruise in the morning if you want to photograph it from the water!]
Yet, despite its relatively young age, the castle's construction has some fascinating stories behind it - and it was associated with a number of famous people, before it was passed into the protective hands of the National Trust in 1929.
If you're staying at the popular bases of Windermere or Bowness, reaching Wray Castle by land can entail a long drive around the lake - either North via Ambleside (shorter and prettier,) or South via Newby Bridge and Hawkshead (longer and mostly wooded.)
The castle's postcode is LA22 0JA. Entering this into a satnav is the easiest way to navigate through the small roads - which are not always signposted. The minor road that leads to the property leaves the B5286 about half-way between Hawkshead and Ambleside.
When you do get to the building, parking is provided in a small National Trust car park. This is free for NT members and Pay 'n' Display for non-members. Itcan can be busy in school holiday time, so get there early!
Alternatively you can take your car across the Windermere Ferry, which runs from a peninsula between the Parson and Sourpool Wyke marinas in Bowness [satnav: LA23 3JH] to a another peninsula on the opposite side - next to Mitchell Wyke Ferry Bay. This is about 1km from Beatrix Potter's farm in Far Sawrey and about 10 km (20 minutes) from Wray. Sailings are roughly every 40 minutes, with cars costing £4.40 and pedestrians 50p.
There is also a path along the lakeshore from Mitchell Wyke to the bottom of the Wray estate, so the more energetic could cross on the ferry as a 50p pedestrian and walk to Wray Castle. This walk is detailed by the National Trust on their website as their Windermere West Shore Walk, but note that it's about 6.5 km each way (easy going - they estimate 1h 30m one way) so leave adequate time if you're considering it.
The NT site says that in the summer you can get a launch from Wray Castle, but gives details, so please confirm when - and if - it's running before you base a schedule on it.
Given that it's mock-gothic design is barely more authentic than the Cinderella castles found in the world's Disneylands, the Trust has made Wray into a family friendly attraction which should offer something to both young and old. Some rooms have been preserved empty and plain vanilla for their own quirky pseudo-Norman character (which will appeal to adults,) while other rooms have now been transformed into a kind of period adventure park - providing bouncy foam blocks, areas for dressing up in medieval costume and more intensively themed rooms like the "countryside room" and "Peter Rabbit Adventure" to stimulate the imagination of younger friends.
Children are also offered the chance to "find your way from James and Margaret Dawson’s grand living spaces to narrow winding passages used by their servants" - which may be somewhat mythological given Margaret Dawson's reaction to the building (below!)
The extensive grounds are also open as an an all-year-round attraction. These include part of the Windermere shoreline and the landscaped garden, which is famous for its planted exotics (such as Wellingtonia, redwood, Ginkgo biloba, weeping lime and varieties of beech trees.)
Dawson's died in 1875, leaving the estate to his nephew, Edward Rawnsley, whose cousin Hardwicke became vicar of Wray Church two years later.
Hardwicke Rawnsley was a conservationist and one of those who built on the ideas propounded by John Ruskin (whom he'd met in Oxford) that there should be a "national trust" to buy and preserve places of natural beauty and historic interest for the benefit of posterity. The ideas came to practical fruition in 1895 when Hardwicke Rawnsley became one of the three founder members of The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty - the original and full name of today's National Trust
A later supporter and benefactor of the National Trust - Beatrix Potter - was only 16 when she visited Wray Castle during a holiday in 1882. The house and gardens - and her discussions with Hardwicke Rawnsley - must have made a strong impact on her, because her first Lake District property purchase was only a few kilometers away, at Low Sawrey. She later acquired other estates even closer to the castle (most of which were donated to the National Trust after her death.)
Wray Castle itself was finally given to the National Trust in 1929. The gift included extensive gardens and 64 acres of land, but not much in the way of the paintings and furnishings that would have enabled the Trust to open the "castle" to the public as a "stately home."
The Trust seemed a little bewildered as to what to do with the "castle." It was inially rented out as a Youth Hostel, then used as the offices of the Freshwater Biological Association (now on the shore near far Sawrey) and later as a training college for Merchant Navy radio officers.
The navy finally departed in 2004 and the Trust drew up plans to lease it as a hotel.
Enjoy!
- dikb
Built as a kind of Romantic folly in 1875, it sits on a hillside above the western side of Windermere (the lake) - roughly opposite Brockhole jetty.
Yet, despite its relatively young age, the castle's construction has some fascinating stories behind it - and it was associated with a number of famous people, before it was passed into the protective hands of the National Trust in 1929.
Wray Castle: Information
Getting There and Parking
Because it's on the less touristed western side of Windermere and directly accessible only via narrow roads - or by a sketchy summer launch service from Brockhole - visiting the "castle" can take some planning.If you're staying at the popular bases of Windermere or Bowness, reaching Wray Castle by land can entail a long drive around the lake - either North via Ambleside (shorter and prettier,) or South via Newby Bridge and Hawkshead (longer and mostly wooded.)
The castle's postcode is LA22 0JA. Entering this into a satnav is the easiest way to navigate through the small roads - which are not always signposted. The minor road that leads to the property leaves the B5286 about half-way between Hawkshead and Ambleside.
When you do get to the building, parking is provided in a small National Trust car park. This is free for NT members and Pay 'n' Display for non-members. Itcan can be busy in school holiday time, so get there early!
Alternatively you can take your car across the Windermere Ferry, which runs from a peninsula between the Parson and Sourpool Wyke marinas in Bowness [satnav: LA23 3JH] to a another peninsula on the opposite side - next to Mitchell Wyke Ferry Bay. This is about 1km from Beatrix Potter's farm in Far Sawrey and about 10 km (20 minutes) from Wray. Sailings are roughly every 40 minutes, with cars costing £4.40 and pedestrians 50p.
There is also a path along the lakeshore from Mitchell Wyke to the bottom of the Wray estate, so the more energetic could cross on the ferry as a 50p pedestrian and walk to Wray Castle. This walk is detailed by the National Trust on their website as their Windermere West Shore Walk, but note that it's about 6.5 km each way (easy going - they estimate 1h 30m one way) so leave adequate time if you're considering it.
The NT site says that in the summer you can get a launch from Wray Castle, but gives details, so please confirm when - and if - it's running before you base a schedule on it.
The Attraction Today
The "castle" is open year round 10-5pm daily - or dawn 'til dusk for the gardens and grounds. Adult entry is £9.00 (£8.00 without gift-aid) or half that for kids. Full details can be found on the National Trust's Wray Castle webpage.Given that it's mock-gothic design is barely more authentic than the Cinderella castles found in the world's Disneylands, the Trust has made Wray into a family friendly attraction which should offer something to both young and old. Some rooms have been preserved empty and plain vanilla for their own quirky pseudo-Norman character (which will appeal to adults,) while other rooms have now been transformed into a kind of period adventure park - providing bouncy foam blocks, areas for dressing up in medieval costume and more intensively themed rooms like the "countryside room" and "Peter Rabbit Adventure" to stimulate the imagination of younger friends.
Children are also offered the chance to "find your way from James and Margaret Dawson’s grand living spaces to narrow winding passages used by their servants" - which may be somewhat mythological given Margaret Dawson's reaction to the building (below!)
The extensive grounds are also open as an an all-year-round attraction. These include part of the Windermere shoreline and the landscaped garden, which is famous for its planted exotics (such as Wellingtonia, redwood, Ginkgo biloba, weeping lime and varieties of beech trees.)
The Background Story
Wray Castle is actually a Victorian building, constructed in 1840 for a retired Liverpool surgeon called James Dawson. Dawson commissioned both the "castle" and nearby Wray Church using his wife Margaret's gin fortune for the project! Unfortunately his wife hated the completed edifice and refused to live in it, compounding the unlucky start that had already resulted in the architect (actually an accountant with an interest in architecture, who only ever made this one design) drinking himself to death before it was finished. (It's not recorded whether he used Margaret Dawson's family gin for this, but there's a cautionary tale here...!)Dawson's died in 1875, leaving the estate to his nephew, Edward Rawnsley, whose cousin Hardwicke became vicar of Wray Church two years later.
Hardwicke Rawnsley was a conservationist and one of those who built on the ideas propounded by John Ruskin (whom he'd met in Oxford) that there should be a "national trust" to buy and preserve places of natural beauty and historic interest for the benefit of posterity. The ideas came to practical fruition in 1895 when Hardwicke Rawnsley became one of the three founder members of The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty - the original and full name of today's National Trust
A later supporter and benefactor of the National Trust - Beatrix Potter - was only 16 when she visited Wray Castle during a holiday in 1882. The house and gardens - and her discussions with Hardwicke Rawnsley - must have made a strong impact on her, because her first Lake District property purchase was only a few kilometers away, at Low Sawrey. She later acquired other estates even closer to the castle (most of which were donated to the National Trust after her death.)
Wray Castle itself was finally given to the National Trust in 1929. The gift included extensive gardens and 64 acres of land, but not much in the way of the paintings and furnishings that would have enabled the Trust to open the "castle" to the public as a "stately home."
The Trust seemed a little bewildered as to what to do with the "castle." It was inially rented out as a Youth Hostel, then used as the offices of the Freshwater Biological Association (now on the shore near far Sawrey) and later as a training college for Merchant Navy radio officers.
The navy finally departed in 2004 and the Trust drew up plans to lease it as a hotel.
Enjoy!
- dikb
No comments :
Post a Comment