History

Grassfield Hall began construction in 1801.

The house was built by entrepreneur Teasdale Hanley Hutchinson, originally from Alston he leased and managed the local lead mines in the area. The house was built to stand proud on the edge of Pateley Bridge, with spectacular scenery surrounding it.
In 1810 Teasdale moved into the house with his wife Elizabeth and their first son Hanley was born just a year later. Teasdale remained at Grassfield until 1845 when he died aged 77, leaving the house to Hanley. He lived in the house until 1883, when the Grassfield Estate was sold to John Yorke of the Bewerley Estate. Hanley then moved out of the house, which he said was 'too big and lonely for him'. He spent the remaining few years of his life in Ripon.
Whilst owned by the Yorke family, the first Pateley Bridge Agricultural show was held on the Grassfield Estate in 1895, before moving to its current location on the Pateley Bridge Showground.

In 1896 the Collins family took up residence at Grassfield Hall. The large family from Kirkham Bank in Knaresborough, managed the Harewood House Estate. The head of the household, Major Collins, a Royal surgeon, met his wife, Olympe Amelie, (who was from Mauritius) whilst travelling with the Army. Together they had seven children, their second daughter Amy was a keen photographer and took many photographs of her family and their friends, as they socialised in the house and grounds. These photographs can be seen proudly displayed around Pateley Bridge and here at Grassfield Hall. After the Collins family moved out, the Yorke's sold Grassfield Hall in 1925 when the Bewerley Estate was broken down for death duties. In 1928 Father Hammond moved into Grassfield Hall. Previously he used to pass through the town on his bike as he cycled to Scar every Sunday to say the Mass for the locals. He heard that there was a room that he could use at Grassfield while his church, The Lady Immaculate, was being built so he moved in and converted a space in the front of the house as a place to worship.

From 1939 until 1945, during the war, the Grassfield Estate was used by the Military. The 69th Field Artillery were based here to protect the reservoir and used the house for document storage. After this the house was turned into apartments for a short while, but then changed its use in 1975 when it was bought by a family who ran it successfully as a Country House Hotel. They sold the business to another family in 1988, who continued to run it as a hotel. It was the hub of the local community for many years, however, it finally closed its doors in 2001.

The house was empty for some time and fell into disrepair, it passed to different owners with plans to restore it, however, the plans were never to succeed, and the house was repossessed in 2009. Year after year the house became more of a ruin.

After standing empty for nine years the Hall had suffered with flooding and wet and dry rot. It needed part of the roof replacing and all the original features, including every last fireplace had now gone, some of the upstairs floorboards were no longer in place, the staircases had been removed and most of the windows and doors had been taken out and boarded up. The house was now just an empty shell. The once beautifully landscaped gardens had become completely overgrown and Grassfield Hall could no longer be seen from the roadside.

In 2010 Lisa and Alex found and fell in love with Grassfield Hall, and so bought the derelict building with plans to restore it to its former glory. The husband and wife team have a background in customer service and property development and after discovering the Hall, they made it their mission to bring life back to the historical house. In 2014 part of the building was opened as a Bed and Breakfast, and after working tirelessly on the project, in 2017 they opened Grassfield Hall as their new business, Holiday House Rental, Bed and Breakfast and Event Venue.