Halls of power

Three halls, in Northumberland, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, paint a rich tapestry of England’s past

- Penny Churchill

TODAY in COUNTRY LIFE sees the launch of the gloriously scenic, 540-acre Blenkinsopp estate, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland, which nestles in a wooded, south-facing valley bounded to the north by Hadrian’s Wall and to the south by the River South Tyne, tributaries of which, the Tipalt and the Painsdale Burn, traverse its land. This is Reiver country, a Border region of wild beauty rich in history and folklore, although the estate’s sheltered location and well-managed landscape—a mix of rolling grassland, ancient woodland, young trees and winding burns and lakes—provide an altogether more intimate setting for the handsome stone manor at its heart.

For sale for the first time in 145 years, at a guide price of £4.85 million through Knight Frank in Melrose (01896 807010), the estate is centred on Grade II-listed Blenkinsopp Hall, a handsome castellated structure built by Col John Blenkinsopp Coulson in the early 1800s on the site of an ancient pele tower, one of two border forts controlled and defended by Blenkinsopps since Norman times. One was Bellister, which became theseat of the younger branch of the family; the other was Blenkinsopp Tower, previously called Dryburnhaugh, which was incorporated into the new Blenkinsopp Hall.