The Yorkshire Dales are one of the most remote mountainous regions of England. Winding hillside roads are often single lane and lined with stone walls. Cars swerve to avoid sheep, goats, pheasants, and rabbits on the roads. Rural pubs and churches front onto meandering rivers. This is idyllic English countryside at its best.
Overlooking a gorge filled with purple copper beach and Japanese barbery trees stands the majestic Oughtershaw Hall. This country house built of local stone is the ultimate jewel in the crown of Catch the Breeze Retreats self-catering company. It is the perfect combination of heritage and luxury.
In the 1850s a London wine merchant Basil George Woodd transformed an older house into a grand shooting lodge designed in a neo-Tudorbethan style. His son Charles, a friend of the writer Charles Dickens and the art critic John Ruskin, further enhanced the house and estate.
Charles Woodd built a memorial schoolhouse in nearby Oughtershaw hamlet for his first wife Lydia Wilson Woodd who died aged 32. The schoolhouse is closely associated with the designs of John Ruskin. The adjacent historic reading rooms have been added to the portfolio of Catch the Breeze Retreats as vacation accommodation.
Clive and Lynne Sykes, the founders of Catch the Breeze Retreats, have retained the 19th century grandeur of the house while adding 21st century amenities such as a swimming pool and sauna in the former stable and coach house, and creating a vast contemporary kitchen carved out of the old service quarters equipped with all the utensils required to host a grand dinner party. There are plenty of personal touches too from a welcome basket of local produce to thick white towels in the marble bathrooms.
“Sustainable heating is provided by ground source pumps,” confirms house manager Ben Hart. “Local stone was used for the restoration and extension. The house is insulated with double glazed windows. The Yorkshire Dales are very seasonal and constantly changing. Spring is pretty special, and summer is full of color in the landscape. In winter we can get snow drifts. The house is open all year round for short stays except January when it is closed.”
All the sitting rooms have open fires or wood burning stoves with lots of comfortable sofas and chairs. Purple fabrics in the drawing room reflect the color of the woodland through the stained glass windows. A long oak dining table is engraved ‘C W 1876’ after Charles Woodd.
Ben explains, “Several of the original contents have been retained including the row of servants’ bells in the kitchen.” Upstairs, eight spacious double bedrooms are spread across various wings of the house.
Windows flood the rooms with natural light from all directions, framing the ever-changing scenery outside.
It’s tempting to never leave the property when on vacation at beautiful Oughtershaw Hall. For those who do want to venture out, the local market town Hawes set in a picturesque valley is famous for its Wensleydale Cheese. The town has several restaurants and pubs but nowhere beats a glass of wine sitting on the terrace high above the lawn at Oughtershaw Hall, admiring the heritage and enjoying the luxury.
Text by Stuart Blakley / Images © Catch the Breeze Retreats
https://www.catchthebreeze.co.uk/accommodation/oughtershaw-hall
