Castle Head is a country house surrounded by 20acres of grounds near to the seaside resort of Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria, England. It is run by Field Studies Council, and is a Grade II listed building.[1]
The house was built in the Georgian style for John Wilkinson, an industrialist, in .[2] He was buried in the garden at Castle Head in 1808 before being re-interred in the church in 1828.[3] The house was then acquired by Robert Wright, a solicitor, but lay empty under his ownership for some 30 years, before being bought in 1863 by Edward Mucklow, a Manchester businessman.[4]
The house went on to serve as St Mary's Missionary College, a seminary owned by the Holy Ghost Fathers, from the early 20th century until it closed in the late 1970s.[5] Students who trained there included, briefly, Sir Gerry Robinson, the industrialist.[6]
Since the mid-1970s[7] the house has been a Field Studies Centre, from 1997 managed by the Field Studies Council who offer residential and non residential fieldwork for schools, colleges and universities and holiday accommodation.[8]
In September 2009 a Life Science Centre was also established at the house.[9]