THE Grade II-listed Crathorne Hall Hotel's £4m refurbishment has been unveiled exactly a year since it was devastated by fire.

The east wing of the Edwardian building, the former family home of Lord Crathorne which is near Yarm, was destroyed by the blaze - probably caused by an electrical fly killer dropping onto flammable material below.

However, the kitchen and 17 bedrooms have now been completely restored.

Specialist craftsmen consulted with English Heritage and Hambleton District Council on the restoration and a hidden archway was uncovered and restored.

The Northern Echo: RELAUNCH: Crathorne Hall Hotel near Yarm has now had restoration work completed after a fire damaged the east wing last year. In the Ormesby Suite, one of the newly reburbished rooms are Julia Hands who runs the Hand Picked Hotels chain and sales manager
RELAUNCH: Crathorne Hall Hotel near Yarm has now had restoration work completed after a fire damaged the east wing last year. In the Ormesby Suite, one of the newly reburbished rooms are Julia Hands who runs the Hand Picked Hotels chain and sales manager

It was unveiled by Julia Hands, Chairman and Chief Executive of Hand Picked Hotels, owners of Crathorne Hall Hotel, and Lord Crathorne, whose family owned the Edwardian country house for more than 70 years, as well as the hotel's general manager Peter Llewellyn.

During the work an archway was uncovered in the County Suite corridor in the east wing. This has been restored and the detail repeated to create a grand colonnade. Specialist structural techniques were employed to extend doorways and openings to create more space. In the former nursery, an old stove was discovered which nannies would have used to heat the iron for pressing clothes. This has also been preserved and incorporated as a feature.

As part of the exterior restoration, slate was hand cut to match the existing roof and installed by tilers, one section at a time to ensure the coursing was aligned. The damage cost £4m which was claimed on insurance. All the money was ploughed back into the restoration and even the chimney stone came from the same quarry as the original.

Lord Crathorne, born in 1939, and who still lives in a home in the grounds of the hall, explained the family vacated the property following the death of his beloved father in 1977. The east wing, which was destroyed, had been used as a nursery when he and his brother, David, were children.

Explaining the house was "in my blood," he said: "The fire made me realise things aren't necessarily permanent. But it is fantastic, beautiful, what they've done and it looks even better than before."

The Northern Echo: RELAUNCH: Crathorne Hall Hotel near Yarm has now had restoration work completed after a fire damaged the east wing last year. Infront of the building with glasses of champagne are commercial director of Hand Picked Hotels Ken Arkley, general manager of Cr
RELAUNCH: Commercial director of Hand Picked Hotels Ken Arkley, general manager of Crathorne Hall Hotel Peter Llewellyn, Lord Crathorne and Julia Hands who runs Hand Picked Hotels outside the restored hall with glasses of champagne

Crathorne Hall, which has four AA Red Stars, was the largest country house built during the reign of Edward VII for the Dugdale family. Distinguished visitors to Crathorne Hall have included The Queen Mother, The Prince of Wales and Conservative Prime Ministers Sir Anthony Eden, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and Harold Macmillan.

About 100 firefighters took more than eight hours to bring the blaze under control after all guests and staff were evacuated safely.

Fire investigators later concluded the most probable cause of the fire was an electric fly killer in the roof space of the East Wing of the hotel. Fire doors stopped the fire from spreading to the more ornate central building.

Crathorne Hall Hotel, built between 1903 and 1906, sits in 15 acres of grounds overlooking the Leven Valley.