EGLINGHAM HALL

The pretty village of Eglingham sits in isolation about ten miles off the Great North Road, twenty or so miles from Alnwick, in hill-farming Northumbrian countryside.
The Hall is located on the edge of the village, hidden from the road by a stand of mature trees - mostly oak and ash, with a yew here and there to add to its density. The main drive to the house sweeps around through these trees, which were evidently planted as a shelter from the cold north, for the southern aspect of die house looks out on open spacious lawns, undulating pastures and distant hills. Immediately in front of the house and interrupting the view to the southeast is one of the largest and most glorious wych elms 1 have ever seen.
Part of the house and farm has been on this site at least since the sixteenth century, and mere is documentary evidence that Oliver Cromwell stayed here during the Civil War. In 1704 the house was considerably enlarged using a local stone which has mellowed with time to a warm grey colour. Although an impressive, sizeable country house, Eglingham Hall is the hub of a working farm of about 200 acres of grazing for sheep and cattle. The present owner, April Potts, has been here for nearly twenty years, having taken over the family farm from her mother, Juliet Bewicke; the Bewicke family has owned this little piece of the North of England since the turn of the century, and it was her grandmother who laid the foundations for the gardens as they are today.