^{About Rheged}

Rheged was the name of the Ancient Kingdom of Cumbria that existed during the Dark Ages. At the height of its power around 590AD, the Kingdom of Rheged stretched from Southern Scotland to the Midlands and from coast to coast. Rheged's most famous King was Urien, meaning city born. Urien was known as the Raven King because of the talisman or good luck charm he wore around his neck which bore the symbol of a raven.

The modern day Rheged Centre is the dream and vision of four Cumbrian born directors who recognised that tourism presented one of the few positive options for sustainable growth in Cumbria's rural economy. They therefore decided to create a visitor centre, which would encapsulate the spirit of this beautiful region and inspire visitors to go out and explore the whole of Cumbria and North Pennines rather than just visiting the well-known honey pots.

We came up with 126 names for our unique visitor attraction, then shortlisted 20 and carried out focus group studies. "Rheged" was the name which was chosen unanimously as it reflected the Cumbrian theme of the centre. Rheged is an £18 million development and our directors and their companies have provided 80% of the overall funding. The remainder has been made up of grants from the European Regional Development Fund (objective 5b), English Partnerships, the North West Regional Development Agency and Cumbria County Council. Rheged was officially opened to the public on 4th August 2000 by Lord Melvyn Bragg of Wigton.

The Architecture
Rheged is the largest grass covered building in Europe and many visitors to the centre travel from far and wide to admire this breathtaking building. During your visit, here are just some of the things to look out for:

• Rheged has been specially designed to resemble a Lakeland Hill to blend in with its surrounding environment.
• Rheged was built in a disused limestone quarry and during construction, excavated materials were recycled, including soil for the roof and stone for the walls.
• The hollow of the quarry has allowed Rheged to remain hidden from the main road and not to obstruct views of Helvellyn, Cumbria's second highest mountain. Inside Rheged covers 85,000 square feet on five different levels.
• To look like a real Lakeland hill, a theatre company took twelve moulds of the limestone crags from Shap Fell and recreated Rheged's own limestone crags - complete with waterfalls.
• Rheged has light streaming in through seven glass atriums and two large windows. These create a light and airy atmosphere within the building and provide stunning views of the surrounding countryside.
• Interior features include a 30-foot Pele Tower built from local stone, which disguises one of the centre's three lifts.
• There are two lakes outside the building and a babbling brook running through the building.
• Grade II listed limekilns have been carefully renovated and restored to form a central feature at Rheged and the main entrance to Rheged has been designed to resemble the limestone kilns.
• The main entrance doors are made from 'Float Glass' as it resembles frozen water and reflects the water theme of Rheged.
• Rheged's Directors made a conscious decision to use, as far as possible, local companies, materials and labour.