Wetheral - An Impressive Gatehouse and A Mythical Hermitage Cave

 Wetheral is a cute little village by the river and it's a perfect day trip from Carlisle. Trains run every hour from Carlisle station, and you're there within 10 minutes. What could be easier?

It was a very grey day, with frequent showers of cold rain, quite amiss from the July weather I was hoping for, but there we go, you can't have everything can you! 

Perhaps the most notable thing to see in Wetheral is the Priory gatehouse, one of the largest and finest in Cumbria. It's the only visible remain of the priory itself, which was shut down by Henry the Eighth in 1538. It's rather notable for both it's size, and how complete it still is. I don't think I've ever been inside a Priory gatehouse before.

A view inside the gatehouse. It's survival may have been down to it's post dissolution use. It became a vicarage for a a couple of hundred years, before then being used as a hayloft, before being taken over and restored by English Heritage in 1978.

A view inside the porters lodge on the ground floor, which had been converted into a dairy room, taking advantage of the cold stone walls to help preserve milk, butter & cheeses. 

Outside, the front of the building is charming, it's defensive purpose clear. It would have been used to help defend the abbey from attack by both armies & border reivers alike. The gatehouse is free to visit, and open in reasonable daylight hours. Just be aware though, the land around it is privately owned by the farm, so no trespassing!

Next up, I headed along the riverside trail along the river Eden, to find St Constantine's cell. It's a cave carved into the rock, which was reportedly used by St Constantine when he became a monk. He was supposedly the king of Scotland for a while, before relinquishing the crown and moving to Wetheral.

Inside the cave, there is graffiti from hundreds of years of visitors scratched into the stone. It forms almost a guestbook, with people adding their names & dates of visit, sometimes with an additional message. I suppose here is where I confess to being contradictory. I see modern scratching of names & dates, and it frustrates me, whereas anything older, I'm interested in. I suppose in a hundred years time people will be looking at "TIFFANI WAS ERE 2023" and think it is interesting. I suppose we shall have to wait and see. Anyway, this Welsh inscription with the star of David above it was much more fascinating than what Tiffani had to say.

More interesting graffiti.

Here's a closer look at the entrance to the cave, with the river Eden slowly flowing past. I can see why St Constantine would have wanted to become a hermit here, it's so peaceful, with just the song of birds and tree leaves rustling in the wind. It's a perfect place to meditate and reflect for a moment.

I couldn't quite work out what this is. It looks like a beautiful Italian styled garden, on the grounds of what looked like to be a former stately home or hotel. It looked rather beautiful, but I didn't fancy a swim across to see more of it! 

Possibly the most fantastic bench I've ever sat on! The detailing was fantastic, and provided a nice moment to stop and rest for a little bit and to enjoy the view!

The trains are every hour, and in true typical fashion I was walking through the village to discover it had departed a mere three minutes earlier. Isn't it typical? So I stopped off at the little café for a cup of tea and a brownie, before walking back to the station and along the railway viaduct for a better view of the river Eden. This was such a lovely little village, not much to do there, but it just had such a calm vibe about it. I headed back down to the train station, and went back to Carlisle. This was such an easy trip to do, and I arrived back early afternoon, so I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Carlisle and in the little shopping area they called the lanes. Tomorrow I was heading to Bowness-On-Solway, where I would be at the start of Hadrian's Wall. I couldn't wait!