Grand Living At Moresdale Hall, Lambrigg

A Memory of Moresdale Hall.

We came to a deserted Moresdale Hall in the 1980s and spent several years refurbishing it. Because it had 2 front doors and 2 staircases we were able to divide it and share it with my brother's family. It had had a chequered career, having been a boys' prep school, a mink farm and an unfinished hotel after its original owners had sold it earlier in the 20th century. Originally a Queen Anne farmhouse, it had been enlarged considerably by a wealthy Manchester businessman in Victorian times and had several large and imposing reception rooms. Our "half" alone had 7 bedrooms! The vast kitchen at my brother's end held a huge Aga, the only heating in the whole place, but there were fireplaces and we installed an efficient wood burning stove in our living kitchen, which heated hot water.

The grounds were overgrown and it was difficult to drive down the long drive, which was overgrown with rhododendrons. Attached to the property, but not owned by us was a gatekeeper's cottage and a farmhouse with barn. A stream ran along one boundary and a public footpath, "The Pheasant Way" ran through part of the grounds. A little herd of roe deer wandered through the grounds and past our kitchen window each morning and evening. They ate anything we tried to plant! Water came from a pool located higher up the fell and was virtually unfiltered or treated, though some earlier owners had installed a kind of filtering system in the extensive cellars. The place was infested with mice, who lived in the thick stone walls and we would set traps each night to try to get rid of them. The place had been empty for several years, after having been used as a hostel for workers building the M6 in Cumbria. We were frequently snowed up to the delight of our children and endured many cold winters.

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