The ambitious restoration of Greystoke Castle is entering a new phase, with owner Tom Nash aiming to complete the transformation of the historic estate into a major hospitality and events destination within the next year.
Mr Nash, who took on a long-term lease of the castle in 2023, said the project has proved far more complex than anticipated but has already attracted tens of thousands of visitors to a site that had remained a private residence for more than 800 years.
The venue now hosts a wide range of events, including comedy nights, concerts, medieval re-enactments, family festivals and seasonal attractions. With the aim of staging more than 100 events each year, Greystoke turned to fellow Cumbria-based TryBooking to manage bookings across its growing programme.
Originally from Liverpool and with a background in engineering before moving into hospitality, Mr Nash had been searching for a hotel opportunity when Greystoke Castle caught his attention.
“I’d seen everything being auctioned off from the site,” he said. “I thought if they’re emptying the castle, surely there’s going to be an opportunity for it to be leased or bought.”
After negotiating a long-term lease with the owners in 2023, he set about restoring the castle and opening it to the public for the first time in its history.
“At the time it was pretty dilapidated,” he said. “We had a lot of work to do to turn it into somewhere people could visit, with restaurants, coffee shops and tours.”
Greystoke has stood on the site since the Norman period, surviving civil war, rebuilding and even being used as a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. The restoration proved far more challenging than expected.
“To be fair, I thought I’d have this up and done by now,” he said. “But the building works, planning and costs took a lot longer than we anticipated.”
Today, the castle is home to a restaurant, guided tours and a growing programme of events, while restoration work continues on bedrooms and other parts of the building.
The castle has quickly become a popular visitor attraction. Mr Nash estimates that around 10,000 people have visited the estate so far this year, with approximately 2,000 taking part in castle tours.
Among the acts to have appeared or been scheduled are Tony Christie and comedians Stan Boardman and Mick Miller, a classic car show in September and an exhibition focusing on Mary Queen of Scots in early 2027.
Introduced to Cumbria-based TryBooking through the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Nash said the platform had made it easier to manage bookings across the castle’s growing programme of concerts, tours and seasonal events.
“The beauty of TryBooking is you ring up and you get to speak to somebody. They were really hands-on at the beginning, helping us get everything set up.”
Looking ahead, the long-term vision is to create a luxury exclusive-use venue where guests can hire the entire castle for weddings, celebrations and private stays.
“It’ll become a wedding venue, a big house getaway,” he said. “People will hire the whole place to live in with their families. You’ll have a butler, you can have a chef, games rooms, cinema rooms.”
Rather than operating as a traditional hotel, the castle will offer exclusive-use accommodation with seven restored bedrooms while retaining popular attractions such as tours, afternoon teas and selected annual events.
TryBooking managing director Joan Lind praised the castle’s varied programme of events.
“Tom isn’t selling just one type of event,” she said. “It’s everything from comedy nights and concerts to afternoon teas and historical tours, so flexibility is really important.
The flexibility of the TryBooking platform has enabled Greystoke to create a booking experience that reflected its own brand while simplifying the management of its busy events programme.
“Tom uses our integrated event listing widget really well,” she said. “As soon as he creates an event on TryBooking, it automatically appears on the castle’s website, saving the team hours of work.
“We see ourselves as the enabler. It’s Greystoke’s venue and Greystoke’s event, so the booking experience should feel like Greystoke, not TryBooking. The platform gives Tom the flexibility to tailor each event, whether it’s a concert, guided tour or afternoon tea.”
Alongside the commercial development, Mr Nash said community engagement has been central to the project. The castle has supported local schools, community organisations and fundraising initiatives, while educational visits and woodland activities are also being developed.
He sees Greystoke happily co-existing with other stately home and historic attractions in the county, like Holker Hall and Muncaster Castle.
And the response from local residents has been overwhelmingly positive, added Mr Nash, with many visitors discovering parts of the estate they never knew existed.
“One minute you weren’t allowed up here, now they can come up and have a coffee and sit in the grounds,” he said.
“They’ve never been around the back of the castle. They never even realised we had ponds and moats and all kinds of different wonderful things.
“Now people are noticing these things they’d never been able to see before. It’s lifting the curtain on a place you could only see from the outside. It’s been amazing.”
