Belsay, Northumberland NE20
Offers in excess of £3,500,000

Overview

• 8 bedrooms
• 5 reception rooms
• 7 bathrooms
• Period
• Garden
• Rural location
• Outbuildings
• Staff/SC Accommodation
• Tennis court
• Woodland

Land

• 6 acres

Tenure

Freehold

Description

One of the finest houses in Northumberland

Beechfield Tower includes a fine example of a Northumbrian Pele tower, origins of which date back to the medieval times. The Pele tower, with its fabulous crenellations has been successively enlarged over time to form the magnificent manor house seen today.

It is constructed of traditional Northumberland stone under a slate roof.

The principal rooms on the ground floor are the great hall, drawing room, dining room, galleried library, morning room, kitchen, billiard room and music room.

The current owners construction of a magnificent double height Great Hall in the baronial style with a double pitched oak roof with exposed trusses has created the centrepiece around which the house flows.

The spectacular dining room, with a galleried library above, has a double height ceiling and a beautiful arched stone fireplace. This room was personally created by the designer Dudley Poplak, who decorated Highgrove for the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The drawing room, over 40 feet long, is exceptionally well proportioned. The centrepiece of the room is a large high mantle open fireplace and surround, which is set on a stone hearth. It has four south facing sash windows, with window seats and double French doors overlooking the gardens and parkland.

Upstairs the house is arranged well for family living and guest accommodation.

There are eight bedrooms and seven bathrooms, as well an upstairs, sitting room, study and nursery.

STAFF COTTAGE
Staff Cottage was built in 1997 and is constructed of Northumbrian stone under a slate roof. It has a sitting room, dining room and kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms including an en suite shower room.

THE GATE HOUSE
The gatehouse is a fabulous stone tower, built in 1996, flanked on one side with open car parking and on the other side with an independent Gatehouse apartment studio and en suite bathroom.

HOME OFFICES
The Home Offices are a beautiful L shaped single storey building, was converted in 2002 into a superb office complex. It includes a reception office, principal office, boardroom, administration centre and bathroom. It was constructed specifically for Home Office use, but would very easily convert into residential use as a separate dwelling for a relative or dependent (subject to necessary permissions).

STABLES & GIN-GAN
The Stables and Gin-Gan is a stone building, mainly single storey, except the southern wing which is double storey. It lies adjacent to the open roundhouse under a circular Gin-Gan roof with exposed stone pillars and provides an ideal sheltered parking area. There are also further garages and stores, a gardeners workshop, tack room and two stables it has a potential for a leisure/cinema wing (subject to necessary permissions).

HISTORY
Built in the 1400s by the Middleton family, Beechfield Tower was sold around 1502 to Marjorie Harbottle, the heiress to the Harbottle estate, who later married Sir John Fenwick. In 1529 the family passed the property to their second son Roger Fenwick. Then in 1622 Robert Fenwick built the manor house which now adjoins the tower to the west side. The estate was then sold by the Fenwicks to Sir Edward Grey in 1630. It was later acquired by James Clavering, who is believed to have added the formal walled gardens and remodelled the south front, which resemble much of what you see today. In 1802 the Claverings sold the property to Sir Charles Monck. By the 1930s it was in a state of ruin.

The current owners of Beechfield Tower acquired the property in 1995 and have sympathetically restored and refurbished the property, including construction of the fabulous Great Hall, Staff House, Gatehouse and Estate Office.

Situation

Beechfield Tower (Bitchfield Tower) is positioned down a long private drive through the parkland of The Belsay Estate Charitable Trust. This provides a wonderfully protected parkland setting. It is set in its own fabulous grounds, and formal gardens, in turn set in the stunning Northumbrian countryside, not far from Belsay Hall and Castle, which is a popular landmark.

Beechfield House lies in a very private location, but also has easy access to both Newcastle upon Tyne and the wide open spaces of the Northumberland National Park and north to the Borders country. Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site is a short distance to the south and the property is near the ever popular Tyne Valley.

Belsay, which is the closest village to the property, is found some three miles away, an attractive hamlet, which was built as an estate village. It has an excellent village shop and well regarded primary school.

Ponteland, 10 miles to the south east of Beechfield, has a wide selection of facilities these include 3 public houses, a recently opened health centre, various restaurants and a Waitrose supermarket. Schools include, Mowden Hall and Ponteland High School.

Further afield is Corbridge, a quaint market town, renowned for its shops which serve the local population and the tourist trade. Several national retailers are represented in the town as well as jewellers, grocery stores, bakers, bookshops, gift shops and fashion retailers.
The cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead (18 miles), have a comprehensive range of shopping, entertainment and cultural amenities including the Metro Centre, The Sage Concert Hall, The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and The Metro Radio Arena. Newcastle upon Tyne also provides excellent transport links by road, rail and air. Newcastle International airport, 10 miles from Beechfield Tower, serves many UK and international destinations daily.

Sporting opportunities abound in the area. These include Championship golf courses at Ponteland, Matfen and Gosforth Park. Salmon and trout fishing can be found on the resurgent River Tyne and Britain’s premier salmon river; the River Tweed is 60 miles away. The area is also well regarded for other country sports including several fine shooting estates and the Morpeth and Tynedale Hunt. There is excellent hill walking in the area, including the 84 miles of walks on the Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail.

Outside

Beechfield Tower is located in a wonderful setting, accessed by a private drive and road through the Belsay Estate to the main entrance, with stone pillared surrounds and electrically operated gates. A driveway and courtyard leads around the Home Offices and the Garaging and Stables, exiting through the gatehouse. The gardens and grounds are magnificently lit which creates an impressive spectacle during the hours of darkness.

There is a secure dog pen and kennel and access into the kitchen garden adjacent to the east wing of the house. It is lawned and planted with fabulous flowers and perennial shrubs surrounding the stone wall boundaries. To the east is a paddock and orchard with 21’ x 15’ wooden stable on a concrete base.

The formal gardens to the property are laid out from the centre of the house to its southern elevation in traditional landscaped style, with quadrangle and stone boundary walls and central stone rill linking central pool and down to the lake. Box hedging surrounds the stone flagged terraces and paths adjacent to the open lawned gardens which divide in three separate areas to its southern boundary, where the lawned areas roll down towards the lake. The gardens are surrounded in season by daffodils, snowdrops and beautiful herbaceous and mixed borders in summer. The lake, stocked with trout and surrounded by mature trees is beautifully lit and has a central fountain and aerator.

Stunning woodland, with picturesque walks leads through to the all weather international size tennis court. The court is sheltered by mature trees that screen the western boundary, and indeed the whole of Beechfield Tower.

The main drive, with gravelled areas, leads into a cobbled courtyard and parking area. This is adjacent to the stables and gin-gan, now used for sheltered parking. The grounds of Beechfield Tower extend to about 6 acres, are well landscaped and a rare asset. The quality of the maintenance and planting of the grounds will be appreciated by keen horticulturists.