If you like sweeping views across fields, handsome historical sights, great walking or all three, then you’ll love Bel House.
It lies just inside the rural Coquet Valley’s beautiful Brinkburn estate. The first of four terraced cottages where workers previously lived, this was a gatehouse beyond which visitors proceeded to the 12th-century Brinkburn Priory and its later-added gothic manor house – both of which you can visit today.
Grade II listed and named after the old estate carpenter’s wife, Bel House has two first-floor bedrooms – one king-sized with fine country views and a striking silver-coloured chest of drawers; the other a super-king or twin, depending on your preference, and starring a built-in wardrobe – which share a bathroom. This large bathroom includes a curved glass-fronted shower and a deep freestanding bath for long luxurious soaks.
A classic palette of cream, ivory, white and honey-hued stone holds sway downstairs. In the sitting room this scheme is rendered cosy with rich tones, a caramel-coloured sofa and a wide fireplace fitted with a log burning stove and warm backlighting. Around the corner, hides an open-plan kitchen boasting numerous appliances, from a washer-dryer and dishwasher to an electric fan oven. The light grey cabinetry here is attractively interrupted by wicker storage baskets. To one side stands a round dining table where everyone can gather for mealtimes or a tea and cake in the afternoon.
Offering more pretty pastoral vistas over low fences, Bel’s lawned garden looks south and east. Wrapping around the home, it joins a segregated front garden of potted plants and a shrubbery. This allows dog-owners to get their pooches from car to the rear garden without entering the house – mighty handy in the event of mucky canines! In this garden you’ll also find a white wrought iron table and chairs and a Webber barbecue enabling al-fresco meals or simply another lovely spot to enjoy a glass of wine at sunset.
Brinkburn Priory is a two-minute drive or ten-minute walk into the estate, secluded on a snaking, steep-sided bend of the River Coquet. Featuring distinctive witches’-hat towers, it was built in 1135 by Augustinian monks delighted at the seclusion of this wooded valley. Centuries later, the now-private residence was painted by Turner before seeing a gothic manor house added.
With the Priory now an English Heritage property, you’ll need to pay (or be a member) to enter and admire its stained-glass windows or William Hill organ. Around the wider, wonderful Brinkburn estate, there’s a gorgeous circular trail to walk along the Coquet, plus a designated spot for wild swimmers.
Ready to explore further? Alnwick Castle and the pretty market town of Rothbury are close, while Coquetdale, the Coquet’s upper section, is a wonderfully wild expanse of open moorland and rocky outcrops extending into the Cheviot Hills and Northumberland National Park. You’re also within 15 miles of Alnmouth’s bay beach, and just an hour’s drive from Hadrian’s Wall.
ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION
For guests looking to holiday together, this property can be booked alongside the other three cottages in the row, Blakey House (sleeps 4), Cuthbert House (sleeps 4), and Mullins House (sleeps 4). Blakey & Cuthbert House can also be booked as a single unit sleeping 8. A further two properties, The Stables (sleeps 8) and Priory Cottage (sleeps 2), are located 0.5 miles away on the Estate. The Stables & Priory Cottage can be booked as a single unit sleeping 10.
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