Temple Sowerby House

A History of the House

A Country House hotel until 2023, Temple Sowerby House was formerly the principal residence within the village and home to the Atkinson family. As early as the 16th century, the family were wealthy yeoman farmers, mainly as a result of the local tanning industry and by the early 1800s, plantation owners in the West Indies. They created Temple Sowerby House to rival the existing manor or great house known as Acorn Bank.

The rear areas of the house date from the early 1720s whilst the frontage of the main building is of early Georgian architecture, around 1810. It is considered that the Coach House is of even earlier construction, probably built during the late 1600s. The conservatory was completed in the Spring of 2006, being the first new addition to the building for almost 200 years.

The house did in fact survive a demolition order in the late 1970s when it was bought and re-modelled into the hotel – most of which you see today.