A fine gash

River Petterill (6)

Our little river, bordered by trees, now meanders its way through fields and arrives eventually in the village of Blencow, where we will catch up with it at a later date. Looking on the satellite map shows just how meandering it is, probably due to the nature of the land it was originally flowing through.

This amazing building has little to do with the river, except that it close by, but I felt it worthy of a diversion. This is Blencowe Hall, a building dating from the 15th century and comprising two rather spectacular fortified towers, or pele towers, joined by connecting buildings. It is right by the roadside, but has a large hedge in front of it, making it difficult to photograph. This is the best I could do, but the link below would take you to a site that shows it properly – in all its current splendour.
 
Of course what is most noticeable about this house is the huge gash in the wall of one of the towers. Tradition says that this was as a result of an attack on the building in the 1640s, during the Civil War.  Sadly, it is more likely that soft ground and underground water caused the stonework to collapse.
 
The building was owned by the Blencow family for many centuries, until in 1802 it was sold. Eventually it fell into ruin and one tower almost collapsed. The property was bought around 2008 by Rowley Estates. A huge restoration project then went ahead and the place is now a luxurious 13 bedroomed holiday let. If anyone feels they would like to stay, here is the link!!
 
You can see from my picture that the architect decided to leave the ‘gash’ and built a glass wall behind it, retaining it as a feature of the building.
 
Interestingly, the details of the holiday let mention that the house has access across the road to the River Petterill. I hardly think any of the guests are going to cross the road and walk across a field in order to get to a tiny river hidden behind trees!