Rudding Park Hotel: How grand building went from country house to leading hotel

He bought the land in 1788 whilst serving as Chief Justice and later became Lord Chancellor. When the tenure of the latter position came to an end in 1801, he was made Earl of Rosslyn.

Work carried out during this period concerned the garden. Humphry Repton (1752-1815) was engaged to remodel the area to include flower beds to the west and emphasise the view to York on the east side, as on a clear day York Minster could be seen.

Until his death in 1805, the Earl retained Rudding Park, whilst also renting property at Windsor. The former was subsequently sold to William Gordon, youngest son of the third Earl of Aberdeen, who began a rebuilding project.

The original house was demolished and an unidentified architect produced the plans for the replacement. The design has given rise to the theory that the person was an amateur due to the abandonment of certain principles of the period.

Unfortunately, for unknown reasons, Gordon was unable to see the house completed and he sold Rudding to Sir Joseph Radcliffe, second Baronet (1799-1872), in 1824.

He retained the services of Robert Chantrell, an architect based in Leeds, to finish the house. Both remained sympathetic to the initial plans and the house was soon ready for the Radcliffe family.

Taking inspiration from the neoclassical style employed across the country around this time, the exterior used ashlar with a hipped slate roof.

An unusual feature of the house was the positioning, being placed at an angle that would allow sufficient light to enter the principal rooms; the use of bow windows on the east, south and west fronts also heightened the natural illumination.

The plainness of the outside seems to have been a conscious decision taken to emphasise the curved lines and the rectangles predominantly employed.

Inside, the light entering the space was used to highlight the unfussiness of many of the rooms, the symmetry of certain features and art and sculptures that were part of the Radcliffes' collections.

On the ground floor there was a breakfast room, entrance hall, dining room, yellow drawing room, blue drawing room and library.

The entrance hall made extensive use of symmetry in the layout. From walking up the steps of the portico into the house, a visitor was greeted by a central doorway, with the staircase framed centrally, and flanked by two niches containing marble statues from the 17th century in complementary poses.

The latter were mirrored on the opposite wall by two sash windows. Two pairs of marble plinths and busts flanked the doorway and were separated by tables placed under the niches. At either end of the rectangular room were the doorways into the dining room and yellow drawing room.

Against a background of damask wallpaper, the dining room exhibited many portraits of various members of the Radcliffe family. Artists of various eras had been commissioned to complete these, including Seemann, Owen, Wheatley and Reynolds.

The yellow drawing room was decorated with moiré wallpaper (yellow in colour) which complemented three tapestries made in Brussels. The chimney breast was mirrored, as well as being adorned with an ornate mirror dating from the 1700s and Adam-style hanging lights.

The carpet was in the Savonnerie style which complemented the design of the plasterwork on the ceiling. A set of Chippendale seats upholstered in green was present for people to admire the many smaller objets d'art amassed over the years.

These included: Louis XIV furniture, a Louis XV clock, Louis XVI candelabra, French and Chinese style porcelain figures and vases.

Solid mahogany doors led through to the blue drawing room which, like the aforementioned, took the colour designation from that adorning the walls. The decoration was a cross between the dining room and the yellow drawing room in that there were a number of portraits hung in a sitting room setting.

The carpet was noteworthy for dating from the 18th century and the chandelier was of a similar vintage. Another set of Chippendale chairs was present and a similar number of objets d'art added further interest to the room.

Reducing the size of the blue drawing room, in comparison to the yellow drawing room, was an ante room which was once filled with tapestries but was subsequently used to hang a number of pictures.

These included religious subjects by Italian masters del Verrocchio and Gentileschi and realist scenes by Dutch and French artists, like Theodore Ribot.

Floor-to-ceiling mahogany bookcases kept the wide variety of books in the library neatly ordered. The oldest book in the collection dated from the 1100s and there were several representatives from the succeeding centuries.

A piece of furniture of note was the Louis XV double-sided bureau which was suspected to have been made for a French Royal Palace.

The double-branch staircase led to five bedrooms and a number of dressing rooms on the first floor. The area was lit by a lantern in the roof and the centrepiece of the area was a Flemish tapestry (dating from the 17th century) which was hung on the wall opposite the doorway from the entrance hall. Several historical paintings and a number of portraits complemented the decor.

After the death of the second baronet, his son Sir Joseph Percival Pickford Radcliffe (known as Sir Percival, b.1824) made a major addition to the estate in the form of a private Roman Catholic Chapel in the Gothic style. The construction work was completed and the church ready for services in 1879.

During the 20th century a number of events occurred at Rudding Park. In August, 1904 the annual cricket festival took place and there was a large house party at the Hall. Every afternoon large numbers of visitors and spectators watched the games.

The Rudding Park cricket team was fairly successful. Later in the year, Sir Percival and his wife staged many festivities at the house in celebration of their golden wedding. In the First World War the Volunteer Training Corps carried out manoeuvres at Rudding Park.

Lady Radcliffe died in 1906 and Sir Percival two years later. He was succeeded by Sir Joseph Edward Radcliffe (b. 1858).

There was drama in the house during October 1947 following the stabbing of a butler. Police said he had ‘tackled’ an intruder seen in the house of employer, Captain J.B.E Radcliffe. A report said that he was stabbed – probably with a knife – but fortunately not seriously hurt.

Rudding Park was listed Grade I in 1952, and opened to the public two years later for the first time in its 130-year history.

A private opening ceremony was performed on April 3 by the Duke of Wellington who said the English country house was the greatest contribution this country had made to the visual arts. Members of the public were not admitted until Easter Sunday, April 18.

By the end of that day, it was estimated that up to 6pm over 500 people had visited the historic house and admired its treasures.

Rudding Park was passed down to the sixth baronet Sir Everard Radcliffe (1910-1975) in 1969. Three years later, he sold the house and 2,000-acre estate to Simon Mackaness.

During the following year a caravan park was opened to the south west of the house, then in the mid-1980s Rudding Park was converted into a conference centre.

In 1997, the house was remodelled to become a hotel and in 2010 a new wing was added on the western side, significantly improving the capacity and the amenities available to guests.

Rudding Park has been recognised as one of the premier hotels in the world.