Barrow House is a late 18th-century mansion situated on the eastern shore of
Derwentwater
Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria.
The lake occupies part of Borrowda ...
in
Borrowdale
Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' t ...
within the
Lake District National Park
The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary.
The area was desi ...
, in the county of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, England. The house is a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
which since the time of its construction has had various uses, it was originally a private dwelling and has since served as a
hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
, a youth hostel run by the
YHA and is now an
independent hostel.
History
Construction work began on Barrow House in 1787, the house being built by Joseph Pocklington (1736–1817). Pocklington was the son of an affluent
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
banker and was viewed locally as a wealthy eccentric. He had inherited a large fortune at the age of 26 which allowed him to lead a life of luxury. In 1778 he purchased
Derwent Island House
Derwent Island House (often called Derwent Isle House) is a Grade II listed 18th-century Italianate architecture, Italianate house situated on the Derwent Island, Derwent Water, Keswick, Cumbria, and in the ownership of the National Trust for Pl ...
on Derwent Isle, the most northerly of the islands on Derwentwater. Pocklington constructed various buildings on Derwent Isle which upset many of the local population, with
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
describing them as “mere puerilities”. In 1798 he purchased the
Bowder Stone
The Bowder Stone is a large andesite lava boulder, that fell from the Bowder Crag on Kings How between 13,500 and 10,000 years ago. The stone is situated in Borrowdale, Cumbria, England, at grid reference NY25401639. It is estimated to weigh aro ...
and built a cottage nearby for a guide, erected a ladder and cleared away the stones from around it, earning criticism from the poet
Robert Southey
Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...
. In 1796 Pocklington sold Derwent Island House to General William Peachy and moved to the newly completed Barrow House.
Barrow House cost £1,655 to build and was initially called Barrow Cascade House because Pocklington had created a 108 foot high waterfall behind the house (to compete with the nearby
Lodore Falls
Lodore Falls is a waterfall in Cumbria, England, close to Derwentwater and downstream from Watendlath. The falls are located on the beck that flows from Watendlath Tarn, and tumble more than over a steep cascade into the Borrowdale Valley. Alth ...
) by employing workmen to divert and channel a stream. The cascade was generally well received, although
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
who had little positive to say about Pocklington, called it ''“the commonplace cascade at King Pocky’s”''. Shortly after completion a
folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings.
Eighteenth-cent ...
was built between the rear of the house and the cascade, this took the form of a small
hermitage. Pocklington hoped that this would be a tourist attraction and he offered payment for a local to play the part of the hermit, an offer that was not taken up, and the folly was never occupied. The early part of the 19th century saw alterations to the house with side extensions being added and the windows altered.
Pocklington died in 1817, the house remained a private dwelling until the early 1900s when it was converted into a hotel, it became a youth hostel in 1931 and reverted to being a hotel in 1950. The
Youth Hostels Association purchased the building in 1961 and it remained a YHA hostel until 2011 when it was announced that the house would be sold as part of the YHA's financial reorganisation.
The house was advertised for sale at a price of £1,250,000 in late 2011 and was described as having ''“spacious accommodation totalling 947 square metres (10,190 square feet) set in 6 hectares (14.8 acres) of grounds including woodlands, grassland and a waterfall.”''
In November 2011 Barrow House was purchased by local businessman John Snyder who has set up a charitable organisation (Derwentwater Youth Hostel Ltd.) to keep the house running as an independent hostel with the YHA agreeing to the proposal that it should retain the name of Derwentwater Youth Hostel.
The hostel changed its name to Derwentwater Independent Hostel in November 2013.
The hostel today
As from November 2011 the hostel is no longer part of the YHA organisation, it is managed by Tim Butcher as a non profit making charitable trust . The hostel has 88 beds in 11 bedrooms and caters for families, groups and individuals, it has its own small
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...
plant.
[Derwentwater Youth Hostel.](_blank)
Architecture
The house has white painted
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
walls with a
hipped graduated green
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
roof with two
dormer
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
windows. The front of the house is characterised by three substantial two storey
bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room.
Types
Bay window is a generic term for all protruding window constructions, regardless of whether they are curved or angular, or r ...
s.
See also
*
Listed buildings in Borrowdale
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historical ...
References
{{Authority control
Grade II listed buildings in Cumbria
Country houses in Cumbria
Youth hostels in England and Wales