Resurrection cued for Lake District hotel

Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel has been shuttered for years. Now a local hospitality group is ready to breathe new life into the building – with plans to add rooms, cabins, treehouses, and a spa.

CIEL Hotels owns and operates Askham Hall, Queen’s Head at Askham, and the George and Dragon in Clifton. It has now turned its eye to the Ullswater building, which was a hotel from 1949 to 2020.

Under plans submitted to the Lake District National Park, CIEL would restore and redevelop several of the existing buildings on the 17-acre site, including the main house, garden room wing, and lodge. It would also turn the former stable block and staff quarters building into guest rooms.

The proposals also include three 300 sq ft tree houses at the site’s northern woodland and six cabins in the orchard and walled garden. The plans would enable the hotel to increase its guest capacity from 34 to 62.

Parking would be increased accordingly, with a new 54-space car park proposed in addition to the existing parking facility.

A two-storey, 1,800 sq ft spa and wellness centre with sauna, outdoor plunge pool, and treatment rooms, would also be constructed, as per the designs by Feilden Fowles Architects.

Fergus Feilden, director of Feilden Fowles, described the hotel as “iconic” and with an “unrivalled setting overlooking Ullswater”.

“Our vision for the estate will help to make Sharrow Bay a destination retreat,” he said.

“This builds on our work in Cumbria, following our award-winning design for the Fratry at Carlisle Cathedral,” Fowles continued.

“We bring a landscape-driven approach which prioritises locally sourced natural materials and foregrounds respect for nature and biodiversity in a scheme which supports people and planet. Sharrow Bay has a uniquely beautiful setting, and our subtle interventions aim to enhance and celebrate this special place.”

Proposals include a new spa building with a landscaped courtyard. Credit: via One Little Bird Public Relations

To help bolster the visual appeal of the property, CIEL would give the formal gardens, kitchen garden, orchard, and existing greenhouses a refresh by Kristy Ramage Garden Design. The woodland in the area would be extended by half an acre as well.

Charles Lowther, co-owner of CIEL Hotels, said: “We are honoured to have the opportunity to bring this magical place back to life and we’ll be putting everything we have into its resurrection to make it what it deserves to be – the most special and intoxicating place to spend time.”

He added: “Every single element of our plan for Sharrow Bay has been painstakingly thought out, and we’ve appointed the best people we can find, to enhance the magnetic energy, captivating views and surrounding nature that make it so enchanting. Our vision is to combine this with our ingrained field-to-fork food philosophy, to create an inspiring, restorative, nourishing sanctuary for our guests.”

In addition to Feilden Fowles and Kristy Ramage, the project team includes SPB Environmental Consultancy, Skelly & Couch, Tweddell & Slater, Lowther Forestry, Ash Bennett Ecology, and Steve Wake.

You can learn more about the application by searching reference number 7/2024/3086 on the Lake District National Park’s planning portal.