15 Iconic Buildings to Explore in Cumbria

Checkout places to visit in Cumbria

The largest and most widespread industry in Cumbria is tourism. The Lake District National Park alone receives some 15.8 million visitors every year.World-famous for its beautiful lakes and mountainous fells, carved out long ago by glaciers, the Lake District today is a playground for walkers and outdoor enthusiasts.

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Iconic Buildings to Explore in Cumbria

Blackwell mansion is one of England’s most important surviving houses from the turn of the 20th century and is a superb example of Arts and Crafts movement architecture, with most of the original decorative interiors still intact. Almost all of Blackwell’s original features survive, along with immaculate furniture and beautiful decorative flourishes. With a peaceful, tranquil setting and tremendous views over Windermere and the Coniston Fells, the house never fails to inspire.

Brantwood is a historical house, museum and centre for the arts, also offering a wedding venue and self-catering accommodation with views over Coniston. It was the home of John Ruskin, one of the greatest figures of the Victorian age. Ruskin was a poet, an artist, a critic, a social revolutionary and a conservationist.

Carlisle Castle

Carlisle Castle is a great medieval fortress that has watched over the City of Carlisle for over nine centuries. Uncover a fascinating history through lively exhibitions, offering an insight into William Rufus, Mary Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. the castle still plays a prominent role in Cumbria as one of its best-loved landmarks. With an exhibition, a program of guided tours, beautiful medieval carvings, a dungeon, a picnic area, a unique gift shop, and being so close to Hadrian's

Furness Abbey was once the largest and wealthiest monastery in north-west England. A place of prayer, piety and pilgrimage, the abbey was also a major landowner, its abbot occupying an important place in the administration of the region. Its buildings are witnesses to the lives of the monks who worshipped and lived there between the 12th and early 16th centuries.

Kendal Castle, probably the late 12th Century, is now a ruin, but worth exploring. From here you can get brilliant views over the town. his 13th-century castle, built on a drumlin, was the seat of power and administration for the barons of Kendal for over 200 years, most notably the Parr family. The site, which has been a ruin since Tudor times, is accessible to the public and managed by the South Lakeland District Council.

A magnificent Elizabethan mansion built around a 13th Century pele tower, which was expanded and rebuilt towards the end of the 16th Century. Both the Hall and the gardens are open to the public. The core of this delightful Elizabethan manor is a pele tower built in 1350 as a defence against Scottish raiders. One of the iconic attractions in this area and it attracts a lot of tourists here.

Lowther Castle & Gardens

Lowther Castle is built at the turn of the 19th century on the site of two previous houses, the castle was a grand affair boasting a room for every day of the year. Its gardens were the envy of the north. The gardens and castle at Lowther have laid abandoned for 70 years and in 2011 opened for the first time since 1938. Visitors can follow simple routes through the 130 acres of gardens and castle terraces.

Muncaster Castle

Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the River Esk, about a mile east of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria, England. The place is now corruptly known as "Muncaster", which first appeared in a Cumberland church register in 1577, the original name according to all old evidence and records being "Mulcaster", registered in the pipe rolls of Cumberland circa 1150.

National Trust - Allan Bank

A Georgian villa and former home of English poet, William Wordsworth. Today the house is a National Trust property that has only recently been open to the public. Unlike most other National Trust properties, Allan Bank is not a recreation of a period property and many rooms are stripped back, allowing visitors to use their imagination about the building’s potential.

National Trust - Hill Top

Hill Top is a 17th-century house in Near Sawrey near Hawkshead, in the English county of Cumbria. It is an example of Lakeland's vernacular architecture with random stone walls and slate roofs. The house was once the home of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter who left it to the National Trust. It is a Grade II* listed building.

National Trust - Wordsworth House and Garden

Wordsworth House and Garden is the birthplace and childhood home of romantic poet William and his sister Dorothy. The house is a Grade I listed building. It is open to the public as a writer's house museum from March to October each year.

Rydal Mount & Gardens

An interesting Victorian garden, well maintained because it belonged to the poet, William Wordsworth, from 1815 to 1850. It has trees, shrubs, grass terraces, a summerhouse, and herbaceous borders in design terms, close to the Loudon's Gardenesque Style. The house, which was a focus for romantic literature, continues to be owned by the Wordsworth family and retains the feel of a lived in family home.

It is a massive 60-ft pele tower at the heart of Sizergh – built by the Strickland family in c.1350. The castle was substantially expanded in the sixteenth century and, despite participation in the Pilgrimage of Grace and supporting the Jacobite cause, the Strickland family retained ownership until the twentieth century. One of the iconic attractions and also you can spend a nice time there.

Windermere River House is an example of beauty and luxury. It sits on two acres of the lush garden right on the banks of the Periyar River, and the loudest sound you’ll hear is the splash of water or the call of a bird. The evergreen forests that surround it host some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, waiting to be explored. It has been one of the country's most popular places for holidays and summer homes since the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway's branch line in 1847.

Wordsworth Grasmere

Dove Cottage in Grasmere, was William Wordsworth‘s home from 1799 to 1808. Here Wordsworth produced the most famous and best-loved of his poems, and his sister Dorothy kept her famous Grasmere journals. He was there with his sister Dorothy from 1799 to 1808 and penned the line "I wandered lonely as a cloud" after being inspired by flowers the pair had seen on the shores of Ullswater.

Map of Iconic Buildings to Explore in Cumbria