Otterburn Hall is an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

and estate in

Otterburn, Northumberland Otterburn is a small village in Northumberland, England, northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne on the banks of the River Rede, near the confluence of the Otter Burn, from which the village derives its name. It lies within the Cheviot Hills about fr ...

. It is situated in of deer park and woodland in the

Northumberland National Park Northumberland National Park is the northernmost national park in England. It covers an area of more than between the Scottish border in the north to just south of Hadrian's Wall, and it is one of least visited of the National Parks. The park ...

, northeastern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The building was constructed in 1870 for Lord James Douglas, the land given to him as recompense for the death of

Lord James Douglas Lord James Douglas (1617–1645) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier. He was born at Douglas Castle, Douglas, South Lanarkshire, the son of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas, and his wife Margaret Hamilton, a daughter of Claud Hamilton, ...

, who fought at the

Battle of Otterburn The Battle of Otterburn took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388, or 19 August according to English sources, as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scots and English. The best remaining record of the bat ...

, and was killed near

Otterburn Tower Otterburn Tower (sometimes spelled Otiburne; originally Otterburn Castle; currently Otterburn Tower Hotel) is a Grade II listed castellated, three star country house hotel in Otterburn, Northumberland. It is set in of deer park and woodland i ...

(originally a castle), itself founded in 1086, and rebuilt in 1830. Both Otterburn Hall and Otterburn Castle have been seats of

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

. From 1980 to 2012, Otterburn Hall was used as a hotel. The house is Grade-II listed with English Heritage, and rated four-star by the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

Geography

The

is situated in the

Redesdale Redesdale is a valley in western Northumberland, England. It is formed by the River Rede, which rises in the Cheviots and flows down to join the North Tyne at Redesmouth. Redesdale is traversed by the A68 trunk road, which enters Scotland vi ...

valley in a rural national park. It is north of Otterburn in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, and northwest of

Cramlington Cramlington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, 6 miles (9 kilometres) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of its city centre. The name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or Anglo-Saxons. T ...

. The hall's estate encompasses an area of of deer park and woodland. An stretch of the

River Rede The Rede is a river in Northumberland, England. The river rises on Carter Fell on the Anglo-Scottish border feeding Catcleugh Reservoir and joins the River North Tyne below the village of Redesmouth. The Rede is one of only two rivers in the N ...

flows close to the estate. There are several historical buildings nearby, including Otterburn Church, built in 1857; Otterburn Tower, a

Grade II listed 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 ...

castellated mansion built in 1830 at the site of a medieval tower whose vestiges no longer remain; and

Otterburn Mill Otterburn Mill is a former textile mill in Otterburn, Northumberland, northeast England. It lies just south of the Otterburn Tower along the A696 road next to a bridge over the River Rede. It was owned by the Waddell family for many years and is ...

, which dates to the 1800s.

History

An older Otterburn Hall existed at least as early as 1777. At that time,

Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (14 August 174210 July 1817) was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during t ...

asked the hall's owner, Henry Ellison, for permission to erect a monument on the field to honour his ancestor who died during the

. Ellison denied the request and raised a monument himself which included an obelisk, possibly an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

removed from Otterburn Hall's kitchen fireplace, which was placed into a socketed battle stone. This monument is open to the public by the side of the A696 road. The present building was constructed in 1870 for Lord James Douglas on land gifted as recompense for the death of his ancestor, Lord Douglas, who fought at the Battle of Otterburn. Stables, lodges, and a farm were part of the 19th century complex. By 1907, Sir Charles Morrison-Bell, 1st Bart., was the owner of Otterburn Hall. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1940 to 1944, the hotel was used as a military hospital. The

Otterburn Training Area The Otterburn Army Training Estate is a military training area near Otterburn, Northumberland, in northern England. It is owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) and operated by Landmarc on contract from the MoD's Defence Infrastructure O ...

, established in 1911 and owned by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, is nearby and is the second-largest live firing range in the country. In 1948, the Hall was acquired by a group of Christian businessmen who wanted to start a new venture in Christian education. By 1980, the building was converted into a hotel. Holiday activities and events included table tennis, country dancing, quiz night, fun competitions, music events, tennis, squash courts, croquet, rowing boating lake. There was a restaurant dining room, a bar, a shop, film/ t.v. room, sitting room, dance hall, table tennis room and a large number of bedrooms. The hotel was owned by the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

until 2002, when it was sold to the London-based Angel Group. The hotel was closed suddenly in 2012. The hotel remains untouched, in 2017 it was in a total state of disrepair, overgrown and unsafe. It has reportedly been bought to again be reopened as a hotel, though in July 2017 no signs of any works have yet started. The adjacent estate property called The Coach House, trading as a quality restaurant with bedrooms, is also ceasing business as of 18 July 2017. The Lodge Village, also on the estate, made up originally of 15 wooden-clad rental lodges, is the only part of the estate still open to the public. The Lodge Village, now under private plot ownership, is in July 2017 being extended, adding 40 more units, in a style similar to a

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...

layout. The original beautiful Hall lake/island is still present within the estate, though it is now unsafe for children or teens to visit, as while the old

zip wire A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bo ...

, landing deck and wire bridge to the island are still present, no safety warnings or barriers exist.

Architecture and fittings

The building, in Neo-Elizabethan style, is constructed of brick with stone dressings. Renovation occurred in 1905 for Sir Charles Morrison Bell including the addition of a porch which accentuates the facade of the hall. Another renovation occurred in 1930 subsequent to a fire. A large conservatory is located in the rear of the building. The hall has had its own landing ground since the early 1930s. Otterburn Hall contains 65 rooms and a restaurant.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Official website
Country houses in Northumberland Hotels in Northumberland Houses completed in 1870 Otterburn, Northumberland Grade II listed buildings in Northumberland Country house hotels