Quintessential Castle Yorkshire

This Grade II folly with the appearance of a Norman castle, began life in the early 19th Century as a farmhouse and barn for breeding Shire horses. In the 1860's, the Shaw family, who were the owners of one of the largest woollen mills in Yorkshire, converted the buildings into a castle. Like many Victorians, they could afford to indulge their fantasies and based the conversion on castles they had seen on their grand tour of Europe. Strangely, they never lived there; they purely indulged themselves with a view of the romantic castle from their own large house.

The castle boasts battlements, towers with arrow slit and arch headed windows. The ruins of a mill stand in the twelve acre grounds and there is also a working water wheel. Having fallen into disrepair, the buildings were eventually bought in 2002 by the current entrepreneurial owners.

The owners have spent four years transforming their unique home and offer it for exclusive use. Wall were stripped back to the original stone and brickwork, many original features were restored and they have blended these with a wonderful contemporary interior of dark woods, deep colours and highly textured fabrics. The attached stable block has been converted into a fantastic indoor swimming pool and gym, which is linked to the main building by an internal bridge.

In 2009, a dilapidated outbuilding was converted next to the water wheel into a large private dining/function room, which has since been licensed to host intimate weddings.

A note from the owners:

"A very warm welcome to our Castle!

We are delighted that you are considering our home for your stay. We feel it is such a unique place and believe you will have a really memorable time.

We have lived here for 9 years, and during that time our home has undergone extensive renovations including the addition of our indoor swimming pool and gym.

We fell in love with the house the first time we drove through the deer park and saw the turrets through the trees. It's such a private relaxing location; our guests never want to leave.

Even though it has such an imposing façade, everyone comments on how homely it feels, and they are delighted to find a contemporary, luxury interior blended with superb traditional features.

Our private location means we have been lucky enough to welcome many celebrities, film stars and musicians over the last few years. We feel proud to receive such fantastic feedback from all our guests.

We think you will agree with them that it's a great place to stay."