Lake District interiors

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Last week, I showed the exteriors of five Lakeland houses and asked who lived there. This week, I’m taking a peek into their interiors. The first two have very fine woodwork, but consequently are dark and not very photogenic so the best is saved to last. (Click on the title links if you want to see the outside.)

Sizergh Castle

Entrance hall
Dining room
Carving

Townend

Entrance hall
Carving
Carving

Allan Bank

Allan Bank is unrestored and allows all sorts of creative activities (we were particularly taken by the dragon) as well as having a large board for visitors to write their suggestions. I hadn’t visited anywhere quite like it – until we went to Wray Castle a couple of days later.

Dragon
Dragon
Dragon
Shop
Suggestions board

Wray Castle

Unrestored, like Allan Bank, with opportunities to write on walls! The ship’s wheel remains from the house’s time as a naval college and the Peter Rabbit room for children is a nod towards Beatrix Potter who was once a holiday tenant.

Ceiling, central hall
“Boat Deck”
Library
Fireplace
Peter Rabbit
Stained glass
Upper hall

Blackwell

As I said – the best is saved to last. Blackwell is an Arts and Crafts house which reminds me so much of Mackintosh’s work.

Dining room
Fireplace
Stained glass
Main hall and minstrel’s gallery
Carving on bench
White drawing room
Arts and crafts bedroom – peg board
Arts and crafts bedroom – sconce
Arts and crafts bedroom – lamp
Arts and crafts bedroom

Which house would you rather live in?

This week on the Road Trip

I’ve met a few new (to me) bloggers on the A to Z Road Trip this week. So far so good. My featured choice is Eunice at A tent, a caravan, 4 wheels and me. Eunice is from Bolton in Lancashire and solo-camps with her two dogs. Although I’m fairly sure I’ll never go camping again, I enjoy reading about her experiences and the photos of her recent Welsh trips are lovely.

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38 Comments »

  1. I agree with you about Blackwell. We’re Friends of the Lakeland Arts Trust and so visit regularly to see their exhibitions, but we never tire of the house. And I agree with your comment about the similarity to RM’s work – the White Drawing room especially so

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  2. Pingback: Lake District grounds and gardens – Anabel's Travel Blog

  3. I can see why you were taken by the dragon; he’s adorable! Glad to see the interiors of these lovely homes. If only those bookshelves were real…then my vote would definitely go to Wray Castle. I’ve always wanted my own library!

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  4. All fascinating, but I think Blackwell. I love the main hall and what looks like a wonderful window in the white drawing room. Beautiful photos as always.

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  5. I loved you journey through all these houses
    but for me personally I need LOTS of light and as few doors as possible. I’d be carted off by the men in white coats if I had to live in any of these houses ( and the wet Lake District wouldn’t help!)
    Just as well we are all different 🙂

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    • Wray is definitely spectacular, but I suspect not too comfortable to live in. Blackwell has its grand hall but it still has little nooks and crannies with fireplaces within it that are almost like separate little rooms. And the bedrooms upstairs are quite a manageable size. I think for any of them you’d need that army of servants though, and I’m not sure I’d approve of that!

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  8. Thank you so much for the mention at the bottom of the page, I certainly didn’t expect to see that 🙂 I’ll return the compliment when I have time as I’m off on my travels round Anglesey and other bits of North Wales from next Monday, all to be written about in due course.

    Love the photos, I like the ones of Wray Castle best – that hall, staircase and ceiling are amazing.

    If you ever get down to Derbyshire have a look at Calke Abbey near Derby; it’s described as an ‘unstately’ home as much of it has been left in the same state of decline as it was when the National Trust took it over. The original owners were great hoarders and collectors of all sorts of stuff, including dozens of stuffed animals and birds, and the rooms are overflowing with ‘junk’. There’s also a huge state bed with the original drapes, so delicate that the whole thing is displayed in a floor-to-ceiling climate-controlled glass case. The place is amazing and well worth going to – there’s a link in the Featured Places column of my blog, and photos in my post from July 6th last year.

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    • That sounds fascinating – we both went to uni in Sheffield so knew Derbyshire well in the past. Would love to go back some time but haven’t been for decades.

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  11. Oh I love the dark interiors. The carvings are just great. I love the fireplace tiles in the other home and would love to create some painting in that other home. All are great to see

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  13. Such different places. I really like all of them, each one has its own personality. But if I had to choose, I think I’d choose Wray Castle. That ceiling just charmed me 🙂

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  17. I’m definitely voting Blackwell!! It’s gorgeous. I kept thinking as I read on, “Oh, this one, definitely…” but then they kept showing each other up! Sounds like it was a fun trip. 🙂 Love that kind of architecture.

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