England has no shortage of impressive, historic country houses. But few of them make such a striking first impression as Swinton Park Hotel in North Yorkshire. Turning through the front gates, the massive house dominates the hilltop, stretching out to either side, with green ivy thickly coating the outer walls and the castle-like turrets, a Union Jack flag flapping in the wind. Arriving at the start of the autumn, sections of the ivy are starting to shift from dark green to a regal red. To the side of the gravel driveway, clusters of fallow deer are grazing by the river and under the shade of ancient oak trees. We pass the front of the house, including a tall clock tower with an ornate black and gold clock, a massive bell suspended above it, and park our car.
Swinton Park Hotel, a Grade II* listed building, sits on 200 acres of gardens and parkland within an even greater 20,000-acre countryside estate, just inside the boundaries of Yorkshire Dales National Park. It’s more than just a hotel and spa, with lots of outdoor activities (fishing, clay pigeon shooting, yoga…) on offer, as well as a cooking school on-site, with Masham Golf Club minutes away from the door.
Originally a Georgian country house, dating from the late 17th century, the Swinton Estate’s been owned by the same family, the Cunliffe-Lister family, since the 1880s. Samuel Cunliffe-Lister bought it after retiring from his business, Manningham Mills, once the largest factory in Europe, and he went on to give it a more castle-like appearance with the addition of decorative parapets, turrets and a large round tower, reflecting the Gothic influences of the time. The estate has since passed down through the generations. Today, the estate’s owned and run by Mark Cunliffe-Lister, the fourth Earl of Swinton, and his wife Felicity, the Countess of Swinton. In 2000, they completed an extensive nine-month restoration project to transform the family home into the luxury hotel, which opened its doors in 2001. Today, it has more than 40 individually designed guest rooms and suites, including a Signature Suite (The Turret) inside the main tower.
Stepping inside the grand hotel feels like a step back in time. We sit in a quiet hallway, with portraits and landscape paintings hung on red walls, to check in, before being shown up to York, one of the hotel’s Signature Suites, home for the next couple of day. The room is pleasantly old-fashioned, with floral wallpaper, patterned rugs, long flowing curtains, a tartan armchair, and tartan pillows on the spacious double bed. Over the bed, suspended from the ceiling, is an ornamental canopy that looks, when you lay beneath it, like a massive red rose. There are modern touches, including a little digital radio by the bedside, but it’s the old world feel that dominates, including delicate blue and white china tea cups and dishes arranged on wall-mounted shelves or inside glass cabinets, and a chunky, antique wardrobe. While one window looks out onto the ivy-coated walls and a courtyard below, another looks over to the trees where deer are often spending time together in the woodland next to the river that runs through the property. It feels like a timeless scene. The bathroom is more modern, with a large walk-in shower room and a standalone red bathtub. The suite also has a second bedroom, kitted out with a double sofa bed, for our young son.
We explore the hotel, walking down corridors with more old paintings and portraits, stopping in at a nicely darkened games room with illustrations of birds on the green walls. We play a game or two of snooker, before making our way across the courtyard to the swimming pool. We swim for a while, my wife taking time out to unwind in the sauna, then make our way over for dinner at The Terrace restaurant and bar, which has wooden floors and a high wooden ceiling. It’s smart and modern, a different world from the main hotel. We sit on tall stools at the bar, while a barman mixes our drinks, including an Old Fashioned for me and a gin and tonic for my wife. The creamy white main restaurant has a light-filled indoor area, sunshine seeping in through ceiling-windows, and an outdoor terrace with statues, sculptures and water features. We sit inside by the large glass doors, the sun starting to set, the sky going through shades of purple and pink as we enjoy a few glasses of an Italian rosé recommended by the welcoming, helpful bar/restaurant manager.
Dinner kicks off with a very tasty, warm sourdough that comes with miso marmite butter. While my son is well-served by the Kids’ Menu, my wife and I share a couple of small plates, including a arancini and a spin on Patatas Bravas. My main, Black Sheep beer-battered cod loin is a fantastic piece of fish, cooked to perfection, with crunchy salt and vinegar chips, crushed peas, and a trio of condiments, including tartare sauce and, commonly seen in fish and chip shops across northern England, curry sauce, while my wife happily takes the manager’s recommendation of the Yorkshire Lamb kofta burger with glazed spiced rarebit, roasted red pepper hummus and gem lettuce.
Afterwards, we walk off dinner with a stroll through the terrace, around a walled garden, past an aviary and back to the main house.
Next morning, we eat breakfast in Samuel’s Restaurant, a grander, more traditional affair than The Terrace, with a giant, blocky wooden fireplace, white marble statues and windows that look out onto the river and lazing deer. Busy staff serve tea and coffee, juices, and trays loaded with granola, yoghurt and berries, toast and baskets with croissants and pastries. I order the Vegetarian Yorkshire breakfast, a hefty plate filled with vegetarian sausage and black pudding,
grilled tomato, mushrooms, hash brown, baked beans and a fried egg, while my wife orders the restaurant’s signature pancakes with smoked streaked bacon and maple syrup.
It’s a good job we’re well-fuelled, as we spend the first half of the day taking a long, pleasant walk on the trails around the estate, starting with a leisurely walk through the walled garden, where berries, herbs and flowers are growing, then exploring the sprawling, peaceful woodland. The paths lead down through the trees to ponds and lakes, one with the rather morbid name of Coffin Lake, where ducks come over to see if we have any food to offer. Hiking on, we pass fields with more of the estate’s fallow deer sauntering around.
In the early afternoon, we return to the main house and head to a quiet, high-ceilinged lounge, where Afternoon Tea is served, gentle piano music playing in the background. As well as hot pots of English breakfast tea and a glass of milk for our son, we’re brought an elegant selection of savoury items, including sandwiches (roast ham and mustard; cucumber and truffled cream cheese; Wensleydale cheese…), pork pie with piccalilli, and egg mayonnaise vol-au-vents. Just as they’re on the verge of disappearing, a tray of sweet items is presented, which includes Yorkshire Curd Tart, Yorkshire Parkin with ginger buttercream, and a light choux bun with rhubarb from the hotel’s gardens, as well as warm, homemade scones (Cherry and Almond, and Plain) served with jam and clotted cream.
We fit in another slightly hurried swim in the afternoon - timings when children are allowed in the pool are strictly limited to just an hour or so each afternoon, which can be difficult to work around.
While The Terrace is the hotel’s more casual dining option, Samuel’s is their fine dining restaurant, with a more sedate, formal atmosphere. We prefer the vibe and food slightly at The Terrace, but Samuel’s has the ‘big occasion’ feel. Arriving early, while the room’s still quiet, we start again with some still-steaming sourdough, this time with butter and black olive tapenade. My wife and I both go for the warming mature cheddar and spinach soufflé with Parmesan cream to start, and while I tuck into pan-roasted cod with a butter bean cassoulet, my wife goes for the confit pork belly with summer squash, garden vegetables, leeks and Salsa Verde. Our son enjoys the cheesy garlic bread and pork sausages with mashed potato, peas and gravy from the Kids’ Menu, ending with a vanilla ice cream sundae with marshmallows and sprinkles, my wife and I sharing a selection of tasty cheeses from northern England and elsewhere. Along with a few glasses of a fruity Malbec from Argentina, the cheeseboard marks a pleasant, if overly indulgent, end to the day.
We’re back in Samuel’s next morning for breakfast. Before we pack and reluctantly drive off through the national park, leaving behind the house and the grazing deer, I also squeeze in a little time down at the spa. There’s a small, slightly maze-like complex of rooms to discover, as well as indoor and outdoor heated pools. I sit quietly in one of the saunas, then soak for a while in a bathwater-warm pool that soothes muscles, finally heading upstairs for a thorough, 60-minute ‘destressing’ massage - not that I have much to be stressed about by this point, after spending two days in this relaxing ‘time warp’ of a hotel.
Swinton Park Hotel, Masham, Swinton, Ripon HG4 4JH
https://www.swintonestate.com/
Double rooms from £360 bed and breakfast.
