Once in a generation opportunity to acquire a seventeenth century country house with land and fishing rights in the heart of an historic North Yorkshire town.

Boroughbridge Hall is remarkable in many ways not least for being a substantial country house within a fine North Yorkshire town. It occupies a prominent position on the historic cobbled square within the centre of the town surrounded by its own extensive gardens, riverside grounds and paddocks. The house itself dates back to the late seventeenth century, during the short reign of King James II, and is Grade II listed. The current owner recently granted the grounds of Boroughbridge Hall use by the reigning British monarch for ceremonial purposes, evidence of the property's regional status. The Hall's boundary includes the rivers Tutt and Ure, important freshwater habitats and spawning grounds.

Boroughbridge has a distinguished history stretching back to the Roman times, and formally became a town under the Normans, expanding rapidly during the medieval period and designed around three town squares with connecting streets. Because of its position midway between London and Edinburgh and its important bridge crossing, it became one of the busiest staging posts on the Great North Road. Many handsome eighteenth and nineteenth century inns remain, and the stone bridge dates from the sixteenth century.

After more than twenty years as a family home and now much improved and updated, Boroughbridge Hall is once more available on the market.

Entrance vestibule and reception hall, cloakroom/wc, 3 reception rooms, orangery, kitchen breakfast room, utility room, walk-in pantry, boot room, family room, garden room. Principal bedroom suite with dressing room and bathroom, guest bedroom suite with bathroom, 2 further bedrooms, house bathroom, top floor bedroom suite with dressing room and bathroom
Studio/office, shower room
Garage, outbuildings, gardener's wc, potting shed, greenhouse, tennis court
Gardens and grounds, 3 paddocks, woodland

In all some 8.25 acres

More Details - Boroughbridge Hall dates from the 1680s with the front porch added in 1830. It was remodelled in 1947 to reduce its height from three storeys to two. Many fine architectural features remain including tall sash windows and bays, wall panelling, architraves, cornicing, fireplaces, panelled doors, cast iron column radiators and a superb rebuilt oak staircase faithfully following a seventeenth century design.

All three formal reception rooms face west across the landscaped front garden with its gravelled turning circle. The beautifully proportioned drawing room is double aspect with three tall windows, southerly views, a handsome fireplace and panelling. The dining room and sitting room are connected via double doors to create a splendid 37 ft living/entertaining space. In the dining room are three tall windows and a fireplace; in the sitting room there is a large wood-burning stove and an original floor-to-ceiling bay that opens to the gardens. The kitchen is designed and fitted by Jeremy Woods of Wetherby. It includes a central island unit with an Aga, double Butler sink, granite worktops and integrated appliances, and is open to the bespoke oak-framed orangery (Vale Garden Houses) which provides ample space for a family-sized dining table and seating area; two pairs of French doors open onto the garden terrace. Adjacent to the kitchen is a utility room, walk-in pantry and boot room/rear entrance. The eastern wing continues to the family room and garden room beyond, currently used as a gym with doors facing south onto the garden.

There are two staircases including the oak Jacobean-style staircase in the reception hall that majestically ascends past a magnificent 30-pane window on the half landing. The principal bedroom with its deep bay and west facing aspect both giving garden views has a bespoke dressing room and a large bathroom with bath tub and shower. There are three further double bedrooms, one a guest suite, as well as a house bathroom. On the second floor is the fifth bedroom suite with Velux windows (formerly a billiard room) and an en suite shower room and dressing area with eaves storage. Beyond is a door to a substantial void space in the roof trusses offering potential for development.

Gardens And Grounds - From the cobbled town square, elegant wrought-iron electric gates within two grand stone pillars open to a private, gravelled drive that continues past a pond to the front of the house encircling a central lawn of clipped box hedging and rose. Beyond, sweeping lawns and sculpted box hedging are framed by a strip of well-established woodland concealing the town beyond. The drive splits and a tarmacadam version continues to the parking and garage at the rear as well as the studio/office and outbuildings. An offshoot skirts the southern boundary providing vehicular access to the three fenced paddocks with their scattering of mature trees. Attractive part-walled gardens with sweeping lawns and deep herbaceous borders lie adjacent to the eastern wing of the house together with a south-facing greenhouse and potting shed. An all-weather tennis court sits on the other side of the high, mellow wall.

The grounds arc around the property following the confluence of the rivers Tuff and Ure, forming a delightful walkway upon the grassy banks of the raised defences, all of which are flanked by native English woodland. Here are some 100 yards of fishing rights on the riverbank of the Ure. The raised flood defences and basin along with a pumping store and back-up generator successfully control any rise in river levels and are maintained by the Environment Agency.

Outbuildings - The purpose-built studio/office and separate shower room is attached to the garage block. Planning permission is in place to extend it into the open barn behind. The three-bay garage block has electric doors, power and light, and an external water supply. In addition there are two open barns and two secure stores.

Environs - A1M 2 miles, Ripon 7 miles, Knaresborough 7 miles, Harrogate 11 miles, Wetherby and Thirsk 12 miles, York 16 miles, Northallerton 17 miles, Leeds 30 miles

Tucked away from the cobbled town square behind wrought iron gates, this property lies within a short stroll of the town's comprehensive range of amenities as well as its bridleways and pathways along the river and canal. Boroughbridge lies on the edge of the Vale of York close to two National Parks, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is convenient for Ripon, Harrogate and York as well as the A1M connecting to Leeds and the wider motorway network. York and Thirsk railway stations provide regular, mainline connections to London Kings Cross.

General - Tenure: Freehold
EPC Rating: Exempt - Grade II listed
Services & Systems: All mains services. Gas central heating. Cabled superfast broadband with separate cables to the house and studio/office.
Fixtures & Fittings: Only those mentioned in these sales particulars are included in the sale. All others, such as fitted carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden ornaments etc., are specifically excluded but may be made available by separate negotiation.
Viewing: Strictly by appointment.
Local Authority: Harrogate District of North Yorkshire. . Conservation area and Grade II listed.
Directions: Head to Hall Square and the gates of Boroughbridge Hall will be right in front of you.