The Rowley Estates

Blencowe Hall

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Blencowe Hall

Sleeps 24

12 Bedrooms

11 Bathrooms

Blencowe, Penrith CA11 0DF

A 14th-century castle renovated for modern living.

Crenellated towers rise up as you approach. Buttressed walls silvered with lichen welcome you through an archway to a cobbled courtyard. Blencowe has impact. After drinks on the terrace, summon guests to a banquet by glittering candlelight in the claret dining hall overlooking the gardens and Cumbrian bluffs beyond.

Rates range from £52 per person per night based on full occupancy of the twelve bedrooms for a 3 night mid-week stay in the 2025 early spring season or £3759 total for a midweek short break.

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Overview

Set amidst sprawling private landscaped gardens, the breathtaking historic Grade 1 listed Blencowe Hall has two massive castellated towers and magnificent living spaces in between. Situated in the small village of Blencow, or Blencowe near Penrith, The Hall has been sensitively curated by The Rowley Estates in the style of the era and many original features remain including exposed Elizabethan ceiling beams, stone inglenook fireplaces, buttressed walls and circular stone staircases.

Blencowe Hall has 12 luxurious bedrooms (10 are ensuite and two share an adjoining family bathroom), 11 bathrooms and 2 cloak rooms. The kitchens and Butler’s Pantry are ample for whipping up feasts or bringing in caterers on a lavish scale for celebration meals in the South Tower Dining Room.

Catch up for quiet conversation in the Oak Room snug and adjoining nook in the oak panelled entrance hall or shoot the breeze in the Billiards Room under the glow of a Tiffany lamp. Fire up the cast iron stoves and get the games and conversation flowing in the spacious Solar Room whilst you relax and enjoy this Cumbrian castle retreat.

Highlights

Private garden

Private off street parking

Country pub nearby

Broadband WiFi

Dog Friendly

Washing Machine & Tumble Dryer

Large Groups

Woodland views

Stay in style

at historic Blencowe Hall

All self-respecting castles have a story. Blencowe’s no exception. So gather your guests around the roaring log fire in the Solar Room that spans an entire wing, crack open wine and delicacies from your welcome hamper and regale in the South Tower Dining Room. When Cromwell’s men attempted to storm Greystoke Castle, they stumbled on Blencowe instead. Cannon fire split the South Tower in two. Their idiocy is your gain. The dramatic V-shaped chasm, now shored with glass, is an award-winning architectural feature of the multi-million pound restorations, allowing light and modernity to flood inside.

Click on View Gallery below for more images of Blencowe Hall and its welcoming guest accommodation.

Blencowe-Hall-North-Tower-Master-ensuite-bedroom

Guest Accommodation

The North Tower

Accessed via ornately carved masonry doorways are the two ground floor ensuite bedrooms in the North Tower of Blencowe Hall. The Garden Bedroom (4’6 double bed) has a private ensuite wet room set into the curve of the spiral staircase leading up to the Solar and has private access to a low walled garden at the base of the North Tower. The Garden Bedroom’s stone mullioned windows are set into five foot thick walls overlooking the formal gardens at the front of Blencowe Hall.

Farther up the oak floored ground floor passage is the Adam de Blencowe Bedroom. This room has 6′ king size bed which may also be configured as 2 x 3′ single beds depending on guest preference. This room has a private en suite with a cast iron bath and separate shower.

Up the stone spiral staircase leading to the top of the North Tower which carries on up to the North Tower battlement roof is the North Tower Master Bedroom with its 5′ four poster bed. This room has a view to the formal gardens to the front and a private en suite with a separate shower and cast iron bath.

At the other end of the oak floored passage is the Lady Jane Grey Room overlooking the North Tower gardens. It has a 6′ king size bed which may also be arranged as two 3′ single beds if preferred. Lady Jane Grey’s sister was related to Henry de Blencowe and her last message to her sister before her execution in 1554 “Vivere Mori, Mori Vitae” is carved above the main entrance to Blencowe Hall. The spacious Lady Jane Grey Room has an ensuite bathroom with a cast iron bath and a separate shower.

Click on View Gallery below for more images.

Access Statement

blencowe-hall-bedroom-comfort-luxury-ensuite-holiday-rental-lake-district-cumbria-wedding

Guest Accommodation

The Central Range

The Central Range of Blencowe Hall connects the castellated North and South Towers and, within it, The Petteril Room (6′ bed) is unusual in that it is the only bedroom in Blencowe Hall to have its original Elizabethan period oak divided plastered walls. In its stone window reveal one of the limestone plasterers left their dated signature from the 1700s and the recent renovations uncovered a hidden massive inglenook sandstone stone fireplace.

The Norfolk Room (fixed twin beds) is associated with the Duke of Norfolk whose estate owned Blencowe Hall for a number of generations. This room has a pair of antique 3′ single beds and overlooks the Central Range formal gardens with their yew topiary and rose borders.

The family bathroom is located further up the hall in the Central Range and has a cast iron bath and separate shower.

The most luxurious of the Central Range bedrooms overlooking the formal gardens at the front of Blencowe Hall is the Henry de Blencowe Room. It has a 5’ antique bed and a private en suite bathroom with a cast iron roll-top bath and a separate shower.

Click on View Gallery below for more images.

View over gardens South Tower Blencowe Hall

Guest Accommodation

The South Tower

The South Tower has two bedroom suites each of which occupy an entire floor of the Tower and have luxurious private en suite bath and shower rooms.

Cromwell’s Folly and its adjoining private ensuite occupy the entire first floor of the South Tower. It is furnished with a five-foot-four poster bed and its bathroom has a cast iron roll-top bath and separate shower. It has amazing views from within the historic rent in the South Tower which is now fully glazed incorporating a private Juliette balcony overlooking the formal gardens of the Central Range.

The South Tower Master Bedroom at Blencowe Hall is accessed via a private stairwell and has a glazed partition and Juliette balcoy overlooking Blencowe Hall’s gardens and fields and fells in the distance. It has a private dressing room, a bathroom with a cast iron roll-top bath and separate walk-in shower and an antique four-poster six-foot bed.

This bedroom has spectacular views from three sides at the top of the Hall and a narrow spiral stone staircase leading to the South Tower Roof. As with Cromwell’s Folly, this room is unusual in that prior to the restoration, the ceiling and floor were completely absent with the medieval stone mullions and fireplaces preserved in the fabric of the tower walls.

Click on View Gallery below for more images.

Blencowe-Hall-The-Rowley-Estates-West-Range-Master-bedroom

Guest Accommodation

The West Range

The West Range has three en-suite bedrooms which overlook Blencowe Hall’s South Tower field orchards and the Lake District Mell Fell in the distance.

The West Range Master Bedroom (6′ bed) includes an open plan airy en suite with a spacious shower and a freestanding cast iron roll top bath and enclosed WC.

The Greystoke Room has a 6′ bed that may be arranged as two 3′ single beds upon request. Its sandstone surrounded window looks toward the Lakeland fells. It has a private en suite with a bath and a glass screened shower over.

The Cumberland Room has a massive antique silk curtained 5′ four poster bed with a private en suite shower and wc overlooking the South Tower Orchard and Lakeland fells. Its dark oak bureau and free standing wardrobe add to the historic flair of this luxurious bedroom.

Click on View Gallery below for more images.

Blencowe Hall Estate – self catering holidays

If you can bear to leave…

Beyond the labyrinthine stairways and passages, explore the rolling countryside with your hounds at your heels. (Dogs are always welcome at The Rowley Estates.) Along the Eden Valley, ancient stone circles and Lacy’s Caves keep the mystery alive. Or get down to earth and muddy, hiking and biking the hills and fells. Mess about in boats on the Lakes – Ullswater’s a fifteen-minute drive away. Take a spin along the A686, voted top in The Telegraph’s Five Most Beautiful British Drives. Stroll into Greystoke village to see the castle Cromwell’s army missed and enjoy a local brew at The Boot and Shoe.

Click on View Gallery below to see more images of the local area.

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Booking direct guarantees the best rates.

Rates range from £52 per person per night based on full occupancy of the twelve bedrooms for a 3 night mid-week stay in the 2025 early spring season or £3759 total for a midweek short break.

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As your stay is due to commence within the next 5 days, please get in touch in order to confirm your last minute arrival

Preferred dates not available? Please use the enquire now button to get in touch and we would be happy to help with alternative recommendations for your holiday.

Reviews

Blencowe Hall is rated 5 out of 5 based on 126 reviews

We had a wonderful weekend in the Lake District, staying at beautiful Blencowe Hall absolutely stunning property in a fantastic location just a mile outside a beautiful village of Greystoke. Everything perfect for large groups, all bedrooms beautifully furnished and decorated honestly amazing. Couldn’t fault booking process and all...

Elizabeth Holland

06/05/2025

via Direct Message

An amazing Easter wedding weekend for my daughter & son-in-law, 2 horses & dogs! Just a glorious setting for the ceremony, the celebrations & an Easter egg hunt! The accommodation is excellent & we really appreciated the lovely welcome hampers. Thank you so much for helping us make some fabulous...

04/05/2025

via

We hired the whole estate for our wedding over Easter weekend. The Hall, the cottages, the shepherds huts, the grounds and the Byre were all stunning! So well equipped and the lovely little touches like welcome hampers, toiletries etc are a lovely welcoming touch. We came, along with 50 guests,...

Alex

04/05/2025

via

Our stay at Blencowe was incredible! What a gorgeous property. Everything was perfect and made celebrating my 50th birthday truly wonderful and unforgettable. Christine and the team were super helpful in answering questions and making sure we felt welcome and at home during our entire stay.

Anu

28/04/2025

via

I can’t describe how amazing this place is! I was very lucky to have won a stay here as part of the Bud Light competition! Then we asked Christine if we could return for Christmas! It was such an amazing experience to get married here and was the last time...

Charles

15/04/2025

via

WHAT an experience and WHAT a place. I was King of my own CaRstle for 3 nights and it was absolutely BRILLIANT.
We had a Piper pipe us in for dinner and a pizza wagon (all provided by the EXCELLENT Lynn Hilditch – recommended by Christine, of course).
...

Andrew

11/03/2025

via Guestbook

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Enhance your stay

Guest Services

Enhance your getaway with personalized optional guest services. From gourmet catering, spa treatments including massages brought to you onsite by Icon in the Lakes to a rejuvenating rental hot tub from Lake District Hot Tub Hire set up for your arrival, we’ve got you covered.

Explore the breath taking landscapes effortlessly with Arragon’s ebike or cycle hire service and bring the essentials to your door with convenient grocery delivery. Your perfect retreat awaits.

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The Blencowe Hall Byre

The sensitively restored Grade II listed Blencowe Hall Byre is available as an optional additional accommodation option for guests at Blencowe Hall. The Byre may be opened for use by our Blencowe Hall guest parties for a modest additional charge or will be held closed to protect their privacy and exclusive use of Blencowe Hall’s gardens, terraces and parking. The Byre is offered by separate arrangement as an open plan space for activities like yoga or with wooden tables and chairs for dining or presentations. It has underfloor heating, sliding doors onto its private sandstone terrace and fibre broadband and a large wall mounted TV/HDMI connected TV display. An indoor tennis table may also be provided in the Byre for guest use.

Blencowe Hall terrace outdoor wedding venue dining

Blencowe Gardens

Blencowe Hall sits on a bluff above the small River Petterill and is encompassed by its own gardens, grounds and fields. It has views to the nearby Lakeland Fells and across the rolling Eden Valley.

Guests staying at Blencowe Hall can enjoy brown trout or coarse fishing, golfing, arrange for clay pigeon shooting or archery within the grounds or take a cycle out for the day. There are some great runs and walks in the local area including a path to the Boot and Shoe pub in Greystoke!