A historic Cumbrian hall is on the market for £5 million.
Askham Hall – a popular wedding venue near Penrith – has been put on the market with David Britton Estates.
It is owned by CIEL Hotels, which also owns the George & Dragon in Clifton and Queen’s Head in Askham and last year bought the world-famous Sharrow Bay Hotel.
CIEL Hotels is co-owned by Charles Lowther, his sister Marie-Louisa Raeburn, Michelin-starred chef Richard Swaile and sommelier Nico Chieze.
Askham Hall dates to at least 1280, when records show it was acquired by the Helbeck family.
At this time it was the principal fortified building in the village to take refuge in when the northern Picts and Scots invaded the area, then considered a no-man’s land between England and Scotland.
In 1375 it was acquired by the Sanford Family.
The Sanfords set about significantly extending the house, turning it into a grand Elizabethan mansion.
They built the courtyard buildings and created the framework of what are now the main lawns and terraced gardens.
It remained in the same family ownership for some 350 years until 1724, when the Earl of Lonsdale acquired it.
It was not lived in by any of the Lowther family until the 1930s when the 7th Earl of Lonsdale’s father undertook extensive renovations.
He electrified the house, updated the plumbing and significantly remodelled the courtyard rooms, adding large windows and the wonderful large window in what is now the private dining room, as well as the entrance porch. It was then lived in by the 7th Earl’s family until 2012.
Since the 1960s, it was used regularly for entertaining. One of the best times of the year was always the Lowther Show week when Prince Philip who helped establish this famous carriage driving event with the 7th Earl of Lonsdale came to stay.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s room for nearly 30 years was the Admiral’s room, apart from when the Queen was staying and the old four poster was too small for them both!
In 2010, after the 7th Earl’s death, it was decided that it was too large to be lived in by one family and a decision was made to change its use into a restaurant with rooms and wedding venue, making the most of the extensive grounds and buildings, in particular the bank barn which for the last 200 years had been barely used.
It is one of the very largest vernacular Cumbrian bank barns ever built.
These buildings first came into existence in the 1660s, and this one dates to the mid-1700s after the Lowther family had acquired the property and used it in a more agricultural context.
When inside it, imagine a central threshing area with hay, oats or barley storage bays on either side on the upper floors; and byres and stables in what is now the café below as well as a cart-shed where the kitchen now is below the bar.
A picture of this very building painted by Mary Lowther in the late 1700s can be seen in the bedroom called Yew.
David Britton Estates said it was a chance to buy a slice of Cumbrian history – and as one of the county’s most popular wedding venues, it had hundreds booked for 2025 & 2026.
