Wray Castle

It has poured all day. We took a boat rip to Wray Castle which is owned by the National Trust. It was built in the 1840's by James Dawson who was a retired surgeon. He used his wife's fortune to build the castle. It cost £60, 000 to build which the guide said would be about £21 million pounds in today's money.

They had no family of their own so a 14'year old distant relative inherited it. He never lived there and it was rented out as a holiday let to wealthy people. Beatrix Potter's and her family rented it one summer and so began her love affair with the Lake District.

Eventually the property came into the hands of the National Trust in 1929 and over the years they let it out to various organisations including YHA, the Merchant Navy and Vodaphone.

In 2011 the Trust took back control of it and it has now been opened to the public for a few years. It is not a typical NT property and is very much a work in progress. There is much work to be done there. However, it was a good place to take shelter on a very wet day.