History

The Neaum Crag Estate

Set on a South facing hillside above Skelwith Bridge, at the entrance to Langdale, Neaum Crag is a wooded estate of some eighteen acres in total. Neaum Crag House was the original main dwelling surrounded by the woodland, with Coach House and kitchen garden. In the late 1800’s the house was occupied by Albert Fleming, an editor and friend of the Victorian writer and artist John Ruskin. The house was extended at that time and developed to look much as it appears today. There was a tower above the roof line, now gone, with windows to all sides which must have given superb panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

Neaum Crag Estate - Holiday Lodges & Apartments set in Eighteen Acres of pristine Lake District Woodland

There was a tower above the roof line, now gone, with windows to all sides which must have given superb panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

The Early 20th Century

As with many such estates and properties the Great War (1914-1918) altered everything and the house and its grounds struggled to maintain viability until 1960 when the whole estate was sold to the Lake District Planning Board.

Rebirth of the Estate

In 1980 the Planning Board sold the whole site as a going concern to Dorridge Limited, a company which already owned and ran the Wasdale Head Inn. In 1984 the company began installing timber ‘mobile homes’ instead of taking touring caravans. Mains services were run to each lodge and the properties were delineated by boundary fences. These individual plots were then sold freehold, together with the lodge and its contents. Neaum Crag House had fallen into disrepair and was in need of a full renovation and the house at the entrance to the estate was also built. The Neaum Crag Court apartments were built shortly afterwards, on the area where the tent campsite had been.

The whole Estate is jointly owned by all the property owners on site and the owner of each property holds one Ordinary Share in the company Neaum Crag Ltd, which manages the site.

The properties are used by owners and their guests for holidays and as a quiet retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A number of the properties are available as holiday lets and can be booked through a variety of different agencies. Neaum Crag Services Ltd is a lettings business owned and run by Heather Aughpin (the Estate Manager’s partner) which covers lettings management and sales for owners at Neaum Crag and is based on-site, for those owners who wish to use this option.

The Estate Woodland

The woodland is now protected by a tree preservation order and the bird life is well noted. Red Squirrels can be spotted; roe deer, and occasionally red deer, wander at will through the grounds (though they are rarely seen in summer when the vegetation is high); owls can often be heard and badgers snuffle around in the wee hours.

Our estate and woodland is there for all to enjoy: “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints”.