11:44am Monday 19th July 2010
When Clare and Mark Oglesby saw the rotting shell of a derelict house near Harrogate, they were hooked, they tell Jenny Needham. Now the building is fully restored and the gardens are open to the public at the weekend.
CLARE Oglesby has been well and truly hooked a couple of times in her life. Firstly, and quite appropriately, on a fishing trip to Alaska. And secondly, when she first saw a huge run-down property and its overgrown grounds just outside Harrogate.
The first time she ended up landing a husband; the second time she netted the home she now lives in with him and their family.
“We met in Alaska, like you do,”
laughs Clare. “I worked for The Field magazine down in London and the editor asked me to go on all sorts of trips around the world. Then this fishing trip in Alaska came up, hosted by Arthur Oglesby, a world authority on angling from North Yorkshire.”
Unfortunately, Mr Oglesby was taken ill, and his son was sent out to Alaska in his stead. Mark met Clare and they fell in love. When they returned from the trip, plans were made for a future together and Clare moved north.
While Mark inherited his father’s love of angling, his business was marketing and a fax-to-internet innovation.
He sold up in 2005 and he and Clare were thinking of heading off to live in France when they picked up the local paper one day.
“Goldsborough Hall was advertised in it. We had never heard of it and were intrigued, though I did wonder what on earth we would do with a 40- bedroom stately home,” says Claire.
It lies between Knaresborough and Harrogate, tucked into the curve of the River Nidd, and was in a parlous state. “It was absolutely awful, derelict,” says Clare. “It had been a Bupa nursing home until 2003, when it was abandoned.”
But just as the couple were about to write it off, they went for a walk down to the bottom of the garden and looked back at the house. Standing proud in the beautiful countryside, its potential became clear. “I told Mark I really liked it and he said so did he. We could suddenly see through all the awfulness,” says Clare.
The hall, which was completed in 1625, has had a fascinating history as the home of many of Yorkshire’s aristocratic families and was the first family home of Princess Mary.
Now all that history has been brought to life again and the stunning period property can be rented for weddings, house parties, corporate and black-tie events, and as an upmarket B&B. Guests have a choice of six rooms, each named after one of the families who owned the hall during its first 400 years. Each one is individually and traditionally furnished, but with perfectly modern en suites: a great mix of four posters and whirlpool baths.
The hall is a perfect venue for weddings, big enough to accommodate family members and with two dining rooms with lovely views and a library, yet small enough to be intimate.
The garden, into which Clare has put vast amounts of time and work, is a superb setting for drinks and photographs.
Clare’s favourite project was the garden. Over the past four years, she and head gardener Ray Farrer have restored them to their former glory- When Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, lived at Goldsborough a vista was created to the south with the planting of the walled terrace. A lime tree walk was planted by visiting members of the Royal family and surrounded by 50,000 daffodils in the spring. To the south-east of the formal garden there is a copse of Japanese cherry trees which were a wedding gift from the Emperor of Japan when the princess married Henry Lascelles, later the 6th Earl of Harewood.
“We could see the outline of the garden, but it was derelict,” says Clare. “Two 120ft herbaceous borders completely covered in weeds were cleared, we’ve replanted the roses and formal areas, and we’re now working on the woods.”
The results are stunning. On a bright, spring day there can be few nicer places to be. And looking back up the lime tree walk to this imposing mansion, it’s not surprising the Oglesbys fell in love with it… hook, line and sinker.
■ Goldsborough Hall, Church Street, Goldsborough, North Yorkshire HG5 8NR. Tel: 01423- 867321. goldsboroughhall.com
ON Sunday, Elizabeth Balmforth, newly appointed curator at RHS Garden Harlow Carr, will officially open the gardens at Goldsborough Hall.
The stately home is opening its gardens to the public for the first time in 80 years under the National Garden Scheme (NGS). The last time the 11-acre gardens were open was in 1930 when the Hall was the home of HRH Princess Mary, pictured right on her wedding day.
Visitors will be able to enjoy the gardens at their best at this time of year, with the sight of lavender surrounding the rose borders and the lilies and sweet peas in full bloom. The long borders will be a riot of colour, with yellow helianthus and rudbeckia, scarlet monardas and red lynchis.
Goldsborough Hall gardens will be open from noon to 5pm on Sunday, adults £3.50, children free. All proceeds will be donated to the NGS.
Afternoon tea and light lunches will be served in the main house.
■ For more information visit goldsboroughhall.com or ngs.org.uk or call 01423-867321.
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