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Brackenborough Hall Coach House Holidays offers 3 delightfully converted self-catering apartments in a listed eighteenth century Coach House in the grounds of Brackenborough Hall, a Grade 2 star moated manor house.
The apartments accommodate 1 to 12 people when occupied separately, but are also ideal for groups of up to 24 who can enjoy the exclusive use of the entire building. We welcome short breaks all year round!
Brackenborough Hall and Coach House stand in the centre of ancient parkland which is the site of the deserted medieval village of Brackenborough, all part of the 800 acre farm.
The sympathetic conversion has retained as many original features as possible, such as the ornate workings of the nineteenth century coach house clock, the winch mechanism to the granary and the herringbone stone floors, as well as creating an attractive and comfortable ambience in a unique building.
A holiday at Brackenborough will satisfy all tastes. Activities available include walking, cycling, fishing, nature trails, bird watching, badger watching, children’s play area, tennis on the one acre of beautiful lawns and inclusive guided tours of the deserted medieval village and farm.
On the edge of the beautiful unspoilt rolling countryside of the Lincolnshire Wolds, the attractive Georgian market town of Louth with the highest parish church spire in England is just 2 miles away, the sandy beaches and nature reserves of Lincolnshire’s unique coast just 10 miles and Lincoln, Skegness, Hull and York are all within easy reach.
Granary - This unique and spacious apartment on the first floor of the Coach House is recommended for up to 8 guests, but can accommodate a further 4 using the 2 double sofa beds, partitioned by curtains. There is also plenty of room for cots, which are provided free of charge. The master bedroom enjoys an en-suite shower and toilet, and there is a separate bath and shower room for the use of all guests.
In the living area guests can enjoy the workings of the nineteenth century Coach House clock and the original winch for lifting sacks of grain. There are ample facilities and space for relaxing/dining when more than one apartment is let to groups.
Saddle Room - This apartment provides quality ground floor accommodation for 1 to 4 guests, but has sufficient facilities for up to 6 using the sofa bed in the living area. Guests can enjoy the original stalls, hay racks and feed troughs, and the herringbone stone floors. The saddle hangers are another unique feature of this apartment. Both bedrooms have wooden floors and one bedroom has a large French window with views of the garden.
Stables - This ground floor apartment is recommended for 3 guests but has sufficient facilities for up to 6 using the sofa bed in the living area and the additional bed in the smaller bedroom. There is a king sized bed in the larger bedroom and both bedrooms have wooden floors.
Like the Saddle Room apartment, the living area is contained in one of the original stables, with hay racks and feed troughs remaining. The complete stable with herringbone brick floors creates a unique living area for relaxing and dining. The shower is of walk in design for ease of access. For those of limited mobility, this is our most accessible apartment.
Staying at Brackenborough, you are part of a historic settlement with a thousand years of recorded history. Following meticulous research, Paul’s mother, Mrs Eleanor Bennett, has traced the ownership of the estate back to 1066 and earlier in her book Brackenborough: The Story of a Manor. Copies of this book are available for purchase.
The Coach House itself is an 18th century building, altered in the 19th century, with all original features still in place to delight the visitor. The Coach House clock, whose face adorns the south wall, with the mechanism a feature of the Granary Apartment, is by a 19th century clockmaker to the Prince of Wales, J.W. Benson.
Brackenborough Hall has a history with unknown beginnings, but the oldest part today is from the 16th century, although a manor house has certainly been there longer. The moat that surrounds the Hall, its Victorian kitchen garden, lawn, flower garden and Coach House dates back to the late 13th century, when having a moat was a significant status symbol! With many additions at different times, the impressive south facing frontage was built in the 1730s, (accounts for the building are in the book) and now looks out over the ancient Parkland where cows and calves graze in the summer months.
The Park is the site of the deserted medieval village of Brackenborough. The ‘humps and bumps’ in the Park show very clearly the shape of the village which existed from before the Doomsday Book (1086) until after the Black Death in the 14th century with a population at times of over 100 inhabitants. Inclusive guided tours of the house, grounds, deserted medieval village and farm are available to guests who are interested.
Brackenborough Hall Farm is unique in this part of Lincolnshire in its range of habitats and its traditional style of estate management.
The ancient parkland that has not been ploughed since the 14th century and is now managed as part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme to encourage biodiversity is linked via field margins to the mature oak woodland and the Yarburgh beck flowing through the farm and on the northern border.
The extensive grass margins around the fields, the permanent grass parkland and the rides mown through the wood all make ideal walks for enjoying the farm where guests are free to roam, or to follow our suggestions for walks that can also link into the many public footpaths that go further afield. Free guided tours of the farm and the deserted medieval village are available for those who are interested.
The farm management has always had a large strand of conservation running through it. The farm has retained all its hedges, so the fields are small and brimming with wildlife. At a time when most farms in the area were specialising with all arable crops, Brackenborough retained its grassland and herd of breeding cattle, which provides a traditional backdrop to the view from the Hall and lawn across the moat. Away from the Hall, Coach House, parkland and farmyard, the farm is primarily an arable farm growing wheat, barley, oilseed rape and beans, with a large proportion of this production being exported via the nearby east coast ports.
Due to the sympathetic management the farm has abundant wildlife. Ian Kingswood, who works on the farm, conducts surveys for the British Trust for Ornithology. As he says in his annual report, “farming practises and the way the farm produces its crops has resulted in the bird population and species total increasing every year.” You may see barn owls flying the hedges and dykes, little owls sitting on the park road or in the trees nearby and tawny owls living near the Coach House – you may even be able to engage one in conversation! Other birds seen regularly or resident include kestrels, sparrow hawks, buzzards and you may catch a glimpse of the kingfisher at our fishing pond. Large numbers of lapwings have also made a welcome return, commonly seen in the park and breeding elsewhere on the farm. The distinctive song of the many skylarks is a feature of farm walks.
In addition to the varied and abundant bird population, the number and species of mammals continues to increase. We have huge numbers of badgers. Go out on warm summer evenings, be patient and quiet and you will almost certainly see them. The woodland has resident roe deer that we often see grazing the crops or our bales if we’ve left them out! There are also numerous hares, having increased hugely in number in the last 15 years, along with excessive numbers of rabbits. Any or all of these may be seen when out walking on the farm, and you may just see a fox out patrolling his territory.
With the farm Countryside Stewardship and other environmental schemes and sympathetic wildlife management, the range of plants and abundance of biodiversity in the hedges and woodland are increasing. With hedges and verges not now being mown as often as in the past, the spring is an explosion of colour and flowers – the highlights being the blackthorn and hawthorn flowering in spring along with an increasing area of orchids and in winter the resulting hawthorn berries and sloes on the blackthorn decorate the hedges with autumn and winter colour while providing a valuable feed source for the bird population. It is this holistic approach to countryside and environmental management that leads to the increasing population of all the wildlife types mentioned above.
We hope that guests will see that by farming this way, farming and countryside management can be done in such a way as to benefit all – producing safe, wholesome, traceable food and doing so in such a way as to allow for numerous species of plants, birds and other animals to share our beautiful estate.
Brackenborough Hall Coach House Holidays is situated just 2 miles north of Louth, an attractive Georgian market town that has managed to retain its traditional appearance and rural town ambience.
It boasts the tallest parish church spire in the country and a lively market on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, as well as Lincolnshire’s only remaining cattle market on Thursdays. A particular feature of Louth are the 6 independent butchers all serving local specialties from meat and other products supplied by local farms. You must try the real Lincolnshire sausages, stuffed chine and Lincolnshire plum bread.
Louth has plenty of facilities for evening entertainment, with the new theatre, multi-screen cinema, nightclubs and numerous restaurants and traditional pubs.
Whether it’s taking the family to Hubbard’s Hills to picnic, play, and paddle in the river, wandering around the streets taking in the ‘olde worlde’ atmosphere, climbing the tower of the church for the stunning views or visiting Louth’s newly refurbished museum, Louth has something for everyone.
Tel 01507 603193
www.brackenboroughhall.com
Lincolnshire self catering holiday cottages