England - Lake District - NT Wray Castle

Location Summary

NT manged property. Castle and photography exhibition. Walking trails. Access to lakeside footpaths along Lake Windermere. Woodlands and open areas. Picturesque garden areas.

Website: NT Wray Castle

Car Park: Free for NT members.

There is free parking at Red Nab (a 20 minute walk from the castle - see map)

Fee: Photography exhibition (free)

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Wray Sawrey Latterbrow

Claife Wray Republic Day

Mugsy Alone On Latterbarrow

Wray Castle Blelham Tarn Wander

Captain's Log

Entrance To The Drive To Wray Castle

04/01/24

The Dark Side

An account of this visit to Wray Castle can be found in walk Wray Castle Blelham Tarn Wander.

Wray Castle Entrance

03/07/23

The Dark Side

I included a visit to Wray Castle on a walk to Latterbarrow. See the Captain's Log for Mugsy Alone On Latterbarrow for the details of the walk. I visited Wray Castle at the end of the walk.

I thought I might need to get out my night vision goggles when I walked through the entrance of Wray Castle. 'Can I help you sir?' came an eerie voice to my right. I looked into the gloom in the direction of the voice, but I couldn't see anybody. I shuffled my way towards it and stopped when I banged my thigh against what felt like the edge of a table. By this time, my eyes had gradually adjusted and I could just make out the silhouette of a woman stood behind the table. By the light of my watch, I was able to extract my National Trust membership card from my wallet and I showed it to her. 'Thank you. Enjoy your visit' came the response from the shadows. I felt my way along a wall to try and find the entrance to the first exhibit.

An Old Sailing Boat And Tent (Off Shot) Are Displayed In One Of The Rooms

Photographic Exhibition

A couple of the rooms are dedicated to the photographs of Herbert Bell, a lakeland local, and Rupert Potter, the father of Beatrix Potter. The subject matter is of course, the Lake District. Each photo is displayed on a monitor, together with accompanying notes. The photos are of surprisingly high quality given the photographic equipment of the Victorian period and the size to which the images have been expanded.

Herbert Bell was a chemist's son from Ambleside. In fact the Thomas Bell pharmacy still exists on Lake Road in the town. Bell produced the photographs as souvenirs for the tourist trade. I quite liked his photos of his camping expeditions with his mates.

Rupert Potter was from a wealthy Kensington family and would spend whole summers in the Lake District with his family. His photos tended to be of a more formal form. I quite like his photo of his family on the lawn in front of Wray Castle. I went to have a look at where the photo was taken later on, and apart from the addition of aerials on the main turret, nothing much has changed.

For good measure, a Victorian period sailing boat and tent are displayed in one of the rooms. The remaining rooms on the ground floor were empty.

I found the half hour wandering around the exhibition quite absorbing, although I do have a side interest in photography. On exit from the castle, I treated myself to a rather expensive coffee from Joey's Cafe and then subsequently poured most of it over my trousers. It was a great view over to Fairfield, from the picnic table though, as I waited for my trousers to dry out.