Looking for an unusual place to stay – take a look at the Landmark Trust. They have a wide range of extremely well maintained buildings available from cottages to old forts. This is one of them – The Banqueting House, Gibside.
We’ve stayed in others before – Nicole Tower in Jersey and the Abbey Gatehouse in Tewkesbury. What they have in common is a wow factor that I don’t think you can get anywhere else. They offer peace and quiet without TV or wifi – bliss. How long can you survive without these? You still have a mobile signal so you can still access the modern world should you feel the need.
The Banqueting House at Gibside is on the National Trust Estate and was owned by George Bowes. He made his money out of coal mining in the 18th century. The main house on the estate is a ruin, but this Banqueting House certainly is not. Set up on a hill it gives great views down to an octagonal pond and across the estate and gives you a feeling of what it is like to live in a grand stately home. Given its former use, as you’d expect there’s one big room – with a kitchen and bedroom in ‘the wings’.
The area is teeming with wildlife so, once the estate is free of the day visitors, we could sit back – on the front steps with a drink or two – and enjoy the deer, rabbits, red kites amongst others. On a clear day the front steps also face some truly amazing sunsets. The house is also bordering a working farm – I never realised how noisy cattle and sheep can be in the early evening!
You are also free to wander the National Trust site, although you are only meant to during normal opening hours it’s hard not to take a stroll and enjoy the peaceful tranquillity. The estate also offers a baker, butcher, pub and wood-fired pizza place on site – although only on Friday/Saturday so we had to venture further afield for supplies.
Everyone that stays gives a write-up of their visit in the house log which gives a great insight in to what to do and where to visit locally. Some include their own paintings/sketches and most offer some humour – intentional or not – relating to their stay. My favourite in this one was the person that started with the line “For the benefit of future readers, I will keep this concise” and then went on to write a full A4 page of close spaced script.
So, if you are visiting the UK (they also have a few in Italy and USA (Vermont)), and fancy spending part of the trip in stately splendour take a look at what the Landmark Trust has to offer. We haven’t been disappointed yet.
whilst the sun shines 