Blencowe Hall

English Heritage has now changed its view about old properties. Rather than them just being preserved as a ‘ruin’ there can now be a change of use, provided that the renovations are sympathetic. Christine Rowley, Owner, Blencowe Hall

This magnificent manor house has acquired not one but two defensive peel towers over the centuries. One of these has remained a habitable part of the structure, but the other, the southern tower, had fallen into ruin long before the new owners bought the house. Inside it was open to the sky and fireplaces were still visible several storeys up, showing the location of the original rooms.

From the outside, the tower offers dramatic and intriguing clues to its history, including an enormous gash in the stonework – often said to be the result of an attack on the building by Parliamentary forces in the 1640s, but more probably the result of soft ground and underground water. The owners wanted the site, both a scheduled monument and grade I listed building, to be habitable, wishing to create some holiday accommodation within it.

It would once have been standard conservation practice to leave the split tower as a ruin, but English Heritage’s buildings experts and archaeologists supported the owner’s desire to bring the structure back into use. The right intervention could continue the story of this complex medieval building. A building that is being maintained because people use it has far better long-term prospects than one from which the inhabitants derive no practical benefit. Eden District Council supported this approach and so gave confidence to both the owners and their architects.

The gash in the masonry that made the ruin so spectacular has been retained, in an eye-catching form. It remains as dramatic a sight as ever but now has behind it inset glazing and balconies. Inside, new rooms have been created; the stranded fireplaces once more relate to floors and hearths, and a bold and visually arresting solution has been found to give new life to a unique part of England’s architectural history.