Sleddale Hall

Sleddale Hall in a sorry state of repair in 2007

Sleddale Hall is a historic farmhouse on the north side of the Wet Sleddale valley near Shap in Cumbria, England. It is famous for featuring as "Crow Crag", Uncle Monty's Lake District country cottage in the cult film Withnail and I.

House and farm

Not much is known of the early history of Sleddale Hall. In the medieval period large parts of Wet Sleddale were owned by Shap Abbey, and impressive cultivation terraces belonging to the Abbey's grange in the valley lie immediately to the north-east of Sleddale Hall. It is believed that it was the home of William Rawes, Yeoman of Sleddale sometime between 1740 and 1758.

An 1802 description of Sleddale Hall and its surrounding farmland reads "Sleddale Hall is situated a few miles south westwards from Shap in a narrow valley among the mountains. We could find nothing to give us any information as to the quality of land in this farm. There is a considerable extent enclosed on each side of the vale which is at present singularly divided in to different fields. This we calculated to be about 250 acres, consisting partly of woodland, partly of poorish meadow ground, and partly of pasture, all of which, or nearly all, lies in rapid declivities. Besides the above inclosed ground, there may be about 2300 acres of barren mountains, forming altogether a tolerably good sheep farm. The meadow ground is mostly capable of improvement by draining, & that at a reasonable expense. This farm, every thing considered we suppose may be worth a rent of £150. But as observed before, our means of calculating the value were very defective."

In 1829 Sleddale Hall was recorded as: "Sleddale Hall, now a farm-house belonging to C. Wilson, Esq., was long the seat of the ancient family of Sleddale, one of whom was the first Mayor of Kendal, and possessed Gillthwaite-Rigg, and some other estates."

Wet Sleddale Reservoir was built below the Hall some time in the 1930s to provide water for Manchester, flooding a small part of the dale.

By the time of the filming of Withnail and I in 1986, Sleddale Hall was derelict and in a state of considerable disrepair. This condition continued for the next twenty years.

Sleddale Hall is owned by United Utilities, formerly North West Water. North West Water had planned to renovate the Hall and convert it into a holiday cottage and workshop. However, planning permission was refused on the grounds that it would alter the character of the valley. In 1998 the Hall was placed on the market, but did not sell.

In 2004 a Daily Mail reporter wrote that the house was in danger of demolition and United Utilities was, according to local people, 'open to offers', but want planning permission granted by the Lake District National Park Authority in order to gain maximum profit from the building. A United Utilities spokesperson commented: "We continue to explore all options open to us for the future of Sleddale Hall"; apparently allowing a historic building to decay to such an extent that it has to be demolished is considered a viable option. Locals also say that United Utilities does not really want to sell Sleddale Hall to Withnail fans, fearful that thousands of visitors will spoil the beauty spot.

Sleddale Hall is currently tenanted by a farmer, Mike Harrison, whose suckler herd which produces Blonde d'Aquitaine crossbred calves won the 2008 British Blonde Society’s biannual UK Commercial Herd of the Year Award. A judge said that the award was notable "considering the type of hard farm he is rearing them on": at Sleddale Hall the cows graze at between 980ft to 1,450ft above sea level, on rough grazing. The house itself is still dilapidated and uninhabited as of September 2008.

Filming of Withnail and I

Sleddale Hall stood in as "Crow Crag", the Lake District cottage owned by Uncle Monty in the film Withnail and I. The scenes at Sleddale Hall were filmed in August 1986. Actor Richard E. Grant, who played Withnail, recorded his first impressions of the farmhouse in his published diary:

2nd August. Mini-bus together out to the location in Wet Sleddale, supposedly the wettest corner of the United Kingdom, through numerous gates, up a mountainside to an abandoned cottage on the water board estate. Perfect. Looks exactly like the script suggests.

Sleddale Hall is private property with no public right of way, but is frequently visited by fans of the film. Although boarded up, partly for security and partly to provide protection aganist the inclement Lake District weather, access is regularly gained into the house. An article in The Guardian in 2003 commented on the amount of rubbish (specifically beer cans) left behind at the Hall by the fans.

Bibliography

• Richard E. Grant, 1996, With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E. Grant Picador
• William Parson and W. E. White, 1829, History, Directory, And Gazetteer, Of The Counties Of Cumberland & Westmorland. With That Part Of The Lake District In Lancashire, Forming The Lordships Of Furness And Cartmel: Alphabetical Lists of the SEATS of NOBILITY, GENTRY, and CLERGY. A GENERAL HISTORY and DESCRIPTION of CUMBERLAND and WESTMORLAND, and the whole of the LAKE DISTRICT

External links

• 2003 Guardian article on Sleddale Hall
• Feature on Sleddale Hall
• BBC photos of Sleddale Hall
• Wet Sleddale Reservoir - Sleddale Hall is visible in the photographs
• Photoset on Flickr showing interior as of 2004
• Flickr Withnail and I group, many photos of the Hall