A hotel with a fascinating story

Image: © Pauline E Taken: 19 Jan 2011

Now a hotel - the following information is taken from the hotel's website. "The Old Lodge was originally built in 1604 as the Gatehouse to the Castle of Malton. In about 1670 or so the property was left to two sisters, Margaret and Mary Eure. They squabbled over ownership until the Sheriff decided to demolish the property and allocate each of them a pile of stones! This, quite unbelievably, is exactly what happened, starting with the now long forgotten Mansion house, which stood at the end of what is now our lawn. Fortunately the sisters reached a compromise moments before the Gatehouse was pulled down, and so the Old Lodge remains standing to this day, 'a monument to the folly and vindictiveness of family feuds'. The Old Lodge is a listed building, and its grounds are a National Monument, due to the ancient treasures that may lie beneath, just waiting to be discovered. Time team- the time team have excavated the grounds of the Lodge, and found many interesting artefacts. The Old Lodge was used as a hospital in the First World War, and has also been a Linen store, as well as a private dwelling. It was pretty much derelict for a while, during which time much of the wood panelling was stolen and sold. The beautiful old fireplace in the Bar was recovered at the last minute from a boat that was set to sail abroad to be auctioned! Unfortunately a wonderful and historically important wood carving of Jonah and the Whale that should be displayed above the fireplace in the boardroom has never been traced. Some of the panelling in the ceremonies room is original, and there were also some gargoyles high up near the roof of the Lodge that were also taken. Fortunately they were later recovered and are now used to make a quirky seat near the ancient beech tree in the garden. The Old Lodge has been open for guests accommodation since August 1996."

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0