The Kings Arms Hotel
The Kings Arms Hotel in Temple Sowerby has a four hundred year history as a coaching inn, providing hospitality both to travellers on the old turnpike road and to early tourists – William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge chose the Kings Arms as a starting point for their exploration of the Lake District in 1799.
The Kings Arms offers bed and breakfast or half board accommodation in comfortable, en-suite rooms. There is a bright and airy residents lounge reserved for guests staying in the Kings Arms, where you can read in front of the fire, play a board game or just put your feet up.
For more infornation or for bookings please visit The Kings Arms Hotel website.
The History of The Kings Arms Hotel
The Hotel originates from the mid 17th century and at one time was a Coaching Inn. The rear courtyard still retains the stables and coach houses. In the late 18th century the Inn provided stabling for horses using the Penrith to Darlington turnpike road. The Crown paid ten gold sovereigns per annum to the Landlord in return for him making stables available for military use in case of riots.
In the late 19th century the Kings Arms relied on shooting and fishing for part of its income. It owned several acres of rough shooting and a two and a half mile stretch of fishing on the River Eden. Some of this is still retained at Ousenstand Bridge.
In the early days the Hotel was privately owned and old photographs have recorded names of such as John Furness and W. Ormerod above the door as past owners. John Furness is believed to have been of the same family as Albert Furness who owned Furness’s workshop.
During the ownership of the Ormerod family an adjoining cottage was added to the Hotel. They made dormer bedrooms above the existing ones. There was also a petrol pump at the front door.
In the 1950s Whitbreads Brewery took over the Hotel from Duttons Brewery who had previously bought it.
There were several tenants before the present ones. Malcolm and Dorothy Allen, who took over the hotel on 19th June 1985. Extensive alterations were done to the Public Bar and Mrs. Cynthia Lennon, ex-wife of ‘Beatle’ John Lennon, who resided in the village at that time, officially opened the Bar in 1986.
The Hotel has been upgraded over the years but still retains some of its former style which is still evident in the original ceiling of the dining room. There is a Fishermen’s Lounge where, no doubt there were and probably still are, many tales relating to ‘the one that got away’. A further refurbishment to the Bar area has taken place in 2020, ready for reopening after the Covid lockdown.
The Hotel has nine letting bedrooms and hosts regular functions including weekly Domino and Darts competitions. The cricketers meet in the bar after their home matches.
