Middleton Lodge

Middleton Lodge, a Georgian estate with a hotel, restaurants and spa in North Yorkshire

Middleton Lodge is a 200-acre Georgian estate located near Richmond, in North Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. It brings together a 58-bedroom hotel spread across the Georgian buildings, the farmhouses and the old working spaces, two restaurants, a forest spa and several spaces for weddings and celebrations. The property presents itself as a place restored with sustainability at its core and with hospitality as its central craft.

Two restaurants with an estate-to-plate approach

The dining offering is built around two restaurants that work with what is grown on the estate itself and with the seasons. The Coach House is open all day, every day, with daily menus and a Mediterranean interpretation of produce from the walled garden. Forge, the restaurant with a Michelin star and a Green star, is open Thursday to Sunday evenings and Saturday lunch.

Accommodation: 58 bedrooms and whole houses

The accommodation is spread across individual bedrooms designed around the estate's outbuildings and gardens. For groups, the property offers whole houses: the Farmhouse, Hope House and the Georgian main house. The Main House, completed in 1780 to a design by John Carr of York, is used exclusively for weddings and gatherings and remains a lived-in home.

Forest Spa: a spa of experiences

The Forest Spa presents itself as a different kind of spa, built around experiences designed for the body and the mind. The offering includes spa experiences, spa and restaurant combinations, and massages and rituals.

Weddings and celebrations on the estate

For weddings, the estate offers two options: the Main House with its new Garden Marquee, or the Fig House and the Walled Garden. It is also possible to book both spaces for a private whole-estate celebration. As well as weddings, the property hosts private celebrations, corporate events and a series of its own events.

History: from 1780 to the present restoration

The main house was completed in 1780, designed by John Carr of York for George Hartley, whose family had made its fortune in local mining, and the landscape around it was completed at the same time. In the nineteenth century, Leonard Hartley turned Middleton Lodge into a working farm and estate, a status that remained for another century. In the late nineteenth century the main house was let to local families, among them the Backhouses and the Peases. The Allison family bought the property in 1980 and has been restoring it ever since, building by building; it still owns the estate. The Main House was the first to be brought back, reopening for exclusive use in 2005 after decades as a private home. The Coach House followed in 2014, with bedrooms and a restaurant. Prue, James's mother, used to host afternoon tea in the family home, a custom that became something of a local institution.

Sustainability and land management

Sustainability has accompanied the restoration from the outset and now determines the management of the land, the growing of produce and the day-to-day running of the estate, with the aim of reaching self-sufficiency. The walled garden supplies both kitchens, with greenhouses and raised beds added to extend the season and the variety. Gardeners and cooks plan the crops together, so that what is planted responds to what the kitchens expect to cook months later. Mushrooms are grown in the woodland, sap is tapped from the birches, and the hives in the orchard encourage pollination and provide honey. In the months of abundance the estate's larder is used to preserve, pickle and ferment, so that the summer's produce lasts into winter.

Recognition and access

The property features at number 7 on the UK Top 50 Boutique Hotels list. The estate sits just off the A1(M), a short drive from Scotch Corner and around ten minutes from Richmond, with free parking across the estate. Darlington station is around 20 minutes away, with direct services from London King's Cross, Leeds and Edinburgh, and taxis are available from the station forecourt. The nearest airport is Teesside International, around 25 minutes by car; Leeds Bradford and Newcastle are both within an hour's drive.

Location and contact

Middleton Lodge, Kneeton Lane, Middleton Tyas, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL10 6NJ · Phone: 01325 377 977 · Email: info@middletonlodge.co.uk