Why go?
A bucolic, rustic-luxe retreat in rural Yorkshire, Middleton Lodge Estate is the perfect mini moon destination for couples tying the knot in the UK. Peaceful, romantic and with a newly opened spa, it’s Yorkshire’s best kept secret.
Honeymoon Style
Middleton Lodge Estate is perfect for newlyweds looking for buckets of fresh air, exquisite garden-to-plate food and a little peace and quiet, post-nuptials. In the warmer calendar months they can look forward to yolky, splitting sunrises in the Walled Garden, a poolside afternoon with botanically-infused cocktails, and a glass of wine in front of the courtyard firepits, pre-dinner. Retreat to the estate in the winter and wrap up for the woodland trail loop, stew in a private outdoor tub and tuck into a tasting menu experience by candlelight.
Set the Scene
A grand 200 private acre Georgian country estate set on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Middleton Lodge Estate is warm, inviting and authentic to the core.
The estate heritage is there, but all the renovated barns and cottages have been given a gentle White Company-style treatment. Each space is individually designed with one-off antiques and plenty of rustic-luxe charm . From its high ceilings and exposed beams to the panelled timber walls, there is a real sense the estate has simply been brought back to life rather than fashioned into something it’s not.
Central to Middleton Lodge Estate is the two-acre walled garden which was redesigned by the celebrated landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith. Not only is the garden used to grow produce for the kitchen, its beauty has inspired the interiors across the estate which have a strong botanical influence. Some rooms spill onto the gardens, which are at their most magical in the morning mist.
The story
The estate was bought by the Allison family in 1980. Owner and Managing Director James Allison grew up onsite and has spent the past 20 years restoring the 18th century Palladian Main House and rambling Georgian outbuildings.
Slowly but surely Allison and creative director Rebecca Tappin, have transformed the estate by redesigning and restoring it. Carefully combining the estate’s 18th century Georgian charm and character with botanical hues and a gentle contemporary edge, Allison and Tappin have consolidated Middleton Lodge as one of the smartest, tastefully rural stays in the north.
Things turned up a notch when the Fig House was added in 2018. Since then, between the Walled Garden with the Fig House and the Palladian 16-bedroom Main House with the Marquee, Middleton Lodge Estate has been busier than ever as a wedding venue as well as a boutique hotel (meticulously separated so wedding guests and hotel guests are none the wiser).
Rooms
Middleton Lodge Estate is sprawling (though somehow intimate) and spans 57-bedrooms and two self-catered cottages, Hope House and The Farmhouse. As such, there are many different categories of room to choose from and each individual room retains many of its original features.
Within the private orchard, find the cosy Shepherd’s Huts or opt for a Potting Shed room within the Walled Garden. Our personal favourite rooms are those in The Dairy. Set apart from The Coach House and with easy access to Forge and Forest Spa and The Dairy feels like a little rural village.
We opted for a Dairy Hot Tub Suite and were impressed by the floor-to-ceiling French doors that opened straight onto a private garden, complete with a seating area and cavernous bath-style hot tub. Inside, another huge round copper bathtub was heavenly to return to after long walks, especially when chilly outside. On that note, our log burner, stoked and ready to be lit, was another welcome touch.
Minimooners should opt for the Dairy Hot Tub Suite, like us, or the double height Dairy Cottage – the largest and most romantic suite on the estate. If the weather is on your side, consider the Head Gardener’s Cottage, the largest of the Potting Shed rooms and the only one with direct access to the Kitchen Garden.
Eco-friendly
Allison and Tappin are dedicated to bringing the estate back to life in a sustainable and environmentally conscious way. As such, Middleton Lodge Estate has a ‘recycle, reuse and reduce’ approach to both water and waste, and currently features electric kitchens, a biodigester, biomass heating and also uses bore hole water.
There are electric car charging units installed in the forest car park and plans are underway to use hydroponics and aeroponics, (the method of growing plants suspended in the air without soil), to reduce the footprint of the food served on the estate.
Food and Drink
When it comes to dining, Middleton Lodge has three perfectly curated options to choose from. Forge (the most elevated dining experience on the estate), opened in February 2023, with head chef Jake Jones offering a sensational tasting menu for just £55 per person for six courses. Since ingredients are foraged from the kitchen garden, menus change daily but a highlight for us was the English mushroom biscuit, Barncliffe mascarpone and spring white truffle canapés.
The Coach House is a livelier dining experience. A modern kitchen and bar, it serves ‘estate to plate’ dishes, where possible and a land, garden and sea menu with seasonal cocktails. This is also where a relaxed breakfast menu is served until 11am each day. From local Swaledale sausage sandwiches to a North Yorkshire take on ‘Huevos Rancheros’, there are plenty of cooked dishes on offer, above and beyond the photogenic array of yoghurts, juices and pastries laid out on farmhouse tables.
If you opt to visit the Forest Spa, included is a deliciously hearty two course lunch; a welcome surprise when it has become commonplace to serve little more than a bowl of broth and plate of leaves.
Family-Friendly
There are a handful of family rooms with bunk beds for children, travel cots and children’s menu but Middleton Lodge Estate is a destination best suited for couples and adults which, honestly, makes it all the better for a romantic, minimoon.
Spa
The Forest Spa at Middleton Lodge Estate opened only in June 2023 and was inspired by the concept of forest bathing. Much like the rest of the hotel, the design of the Forest Spa is rustic and elemental with exposed brick walls and large French doors that open onto a heated outdoor pool, hot tub and loungers.
The Thermal Spa features a sauna and an enormous window framing views across the estate’s fields and woodland. Truly incomparable to traditional spa saunas that are often tucked away in the basement of the hotel.
The highlight of the Forest Spa, however, is the six treatment huts that can be found amongst the woodland. Here, treatments use products from VOYA, blended from organic seaweed and botanical essences, or Aromatherapy Associates.
Following a treatment in the Forest Spa, guests are led into a stylish, calming relaxation room, where floor to ceiling windows bring the outdoors in – rolling Yorkshire fields dotted with oak trees and bramble bushes, The entire Forest Spa experience is a tonic for the soul and exactly what you need after the rush of tying the knot.
Spa experiences include either a 45 minute treatment or VOYA seaweed bath hut experience, with a guided meditation. Opting for a half day spa experience would be a good way to while away the hours before check in at 3pm or, on a pleasant summer’s day, book the romantic evening swim and spa experience which includes a two course dinner in The Coach House (or tasting menu at Forge for a surcharge) and swim beneath the North Yorkshire stars.
Location
Middleton Lodge is just 2 miles from the A1 making it both incredibly easy to get to and also surprisingly peaceful. Though it’s a five minute drive from idyllic villages like Middleton Tyas and Richmond, couples would be forgiven for never leaving the 200 acre estate (few suffer cabin fever here).
For more details go to: https://middletonlodge.co.uk/
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