Heritage Open Days - Special Guided Tour

Historic building conservator, Paul Lewis, from the Cumbria Vernacular Buildings Group, will lead this tour of discovery around Allan Bank. Responsible for the conservation of the building following a devastating fire in 2011, Paul Lewis offers a unique insight into how the building has changed since its Georgian roots in the early nineteenth century. Discover how Allan Bank looked during Wordsworth's brief tenancy between 1808 and 1811 and how the later fashion for the neo Gothic, led the next owner, a wealthy merchant, to add his own flourishes. These include the building of a unique chapel-like structure in the garden used as a billiards room and 'museum' to house the owner's collection of medieval stained glass, inspired by the legendary collecting habits of the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole.