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| Loch Raven at dawn, September 2009 |
The setting for the book I'm currently working on is based on a real place called Loch Raven. It is a reservoir lake located near Baltimore, Maryland. It was formed when two dams were built to hold back the Gunpowder River. It currently serves as a ideal place for fishing, hiking and bike riding, while simultaneously providing much of the area with drinking water.
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Original design plan
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In 1832, Robert Gilmore III purchased about 900 acres of land at the modern day site of Loch Raven. He divided the land into two different parts, calling the rocky, hilly area Ravensrock and the green valley bellow New Market. On the border between the two, he built Glen Ellen castle in the Gothic Revival tradition of architecture. Complete with soaring towers and gothic windows, the manor looked like a little castle perched on the edge of the valley.
The first smaller dam was built in the 1880s, marking the beginning of the decline of the Glen Ellen estate. By 1923, a larger dam had been built, flooding the New Market portion of the estate and creating the vast lake now known as Loch Raven. The waters rose to within a few hundred feet of the steps of the castle. Because of the reservoir, the estate had to be abandoned and it quickly fell to ruin. Pieces of the castle were saved and moved to other buildings, most notably The Cloisters on Falls Road. Because of the safety risk, the castle was finally knocked down in 1930. Only ruins of the foundations remain.
I'd always loved the sound of the name Loch Raven and I thought it would be a great name to give a setting in a book. After doing some research into the history of the area, however, I found so many other things that make Loch Raven a special place. The manor used in my book is based on the plans and photos of Glen Ellen, but it is not an exact replica. The Breakfast Room is located in the castle's original parlor room, which didn't have nearly as many windows and opened up onto a large porch. On the plans for the castle, a large veranda is depicted and I decided to use this instead of the porch. Also, the story does not take place in Maryland, but rather some vague New England location. The town of New Market and Hampton Cove College are completely fictional, but I did take their names from different locations near the real loch. Even Loch Raven itself has changed in the book. Instead of being a man-made reservoir, it is a natural lake surrounded by hills and forests.
Photos courtesy of the collection at the Baltimore County Public Library
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Glen Ellen Castle during its prime. The largest tower was about 63 ft tall.
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Interior shot of ballroom. Alcoves would have housed statues.
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Large porch on the side of the castle. It's replaced by a flagstone terrace in the novel.
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Glen Ellen in its ruined state, overrun by ivy.
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Interior and exterior shots of the library bay windows in ruins.
Loch Raven can be seen in the background of the interior shot. |
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By the time it was torn down, Glen Ellen rivaled any of its
European counterparts in the 'spooky castle' department. |
Information source: http://www.bcpl.info/info/history/glen_ellen.html
