Great pics Traveller, Where & what is the history of the castle? What a wonderful holiday you must have had.
Thanks Audrine. Yes, it wasn't a bad holiday, but very busy. I think all us Seniors must have waited till the kids were back at school and then headed for the lakes!
As for Wray castle....
Although it is said that the house was built in 1840 for a retired Liverpudlian surgeon, James Dawson, who built it along with the neighbouring Wray Church using his wife's fortune, this is not strictly true.
(During the tour, it was stressed that as a condition of the inheritance, it was the wife, Margaret Dawson, who exclusively controlled the finances as a Femme Sole ie a woman whose legal subordination to her husband had been invalidated by a trust, a prenuptial agreement, or a judicial decision.
A copy of the will displayed in the castle confirms this. Her husband was excluded from accessing the money. This was very uncommon in the 1800's )
After Dawson's death in 1875 the estate was inherited by his fifteen year old nephew, Edward Preston Rawnsley. In 1877 Edward's cousin, Hardwicke Rawnsley, took up the appointment of vicar of Wray Church.
To protect the countryside from damaging development, Hardwicke Rawnsley, following a suggestion by John Ruskin, conceived of a National Trust that could buy and preserve places of natural beauty and historic interest for the nation.
The castle has had a number of owners over the years before being taken over by the National Trust who are developing it as a tourist attraction.