Beckside House

About this place

Beckside House stands in the village of Barbon, Cumbria, within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Built in 1767, it is a rare example of a small Georgian gentry house from the north of England, with much of its original interior still in place.

The architectural historian John Martin Robinson has owned the house since 1986.

It is a Historic Houses member property, open to visitors by prior appointment only.

History

Beckside House holds a Grade II* listing, awarded in recognition of its architecture and the survival of original interior joinery and fittings from 1767. The house is located in Barbon village and can be reached on foot from the village centre.

Architecture

The house was designed in 1767 by John Hird of Cartmel, a carpenter-architect who worked from the pattern books of Batty Langley, a popular source of Georgian design for provincial builders.

Worth knowing

Its owner, John Martin Robinson, is an architectural historian who has written on Britain's country houses and their architects.

Gardens & grounds

The garden dates from the same period as the house and includes a formal lawn, shrubbery, and a path following the beck that gives Beckside House its name.