LEADING the field in this year's early-autumn market is handsome, Grade IIlisted Thorney Hall, an impeccably refurbished country house set in 60 acres of woodland, water meadows, pasture, lake and ponds at Spennithorne in lower Wensleydale, two miles south of Leyburn and four miles east of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
For sale through the Harrogate office of Strutt & Parker (01423 205442) at a guide price of $5 million, the hall stands on high ground with glorious southerly views over its own land and the River Ure to Richard III's Middleham Castle and behind it the hills of Coverdale. This is said to have been a favourite view of Lord Bolton, the prominent Yorkshire landowner who built Thorney Hall in 1860 as a home for his daughter, who had set her heart on marrying a reputedly 'penniless' army officer, a Capt Ferrand. His Lordship endowed the hall with 800 acres of surrounding land, which was run as a farming estate by the Ferrand family for the next 100 years.
In 1960, the hall was separated from the farm and sold to the Ministry of Defence as the residence of the major-general commanding the Catterick Garrison. In 1960, it was sold again and became a boutique hotel.
Thereafter, it passed into private ownership and was split into several houses; these were reunited as one by the present owners, who have restored the hall to its original splendour following an extensive refurbishment programme completed in 2016. A particular feature of the grounds is the arboretum planted around the house at the time of its construction, which today includes some magnificent specimens of Wellingtonia, blue cypress, copper beech and horse chestnut.
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin September 04, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Country Life UK dergisinin September 04, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
