Crow How Country House was built as a Farm House in 1848 from the stone of Old Rydal Hall, situated behind the cricket ground, which dated back to the Romans and was considered to have been a Watch Tower guarding Rydal Valley. The excerpt below from A History of Rydal, tells of it's lasting legacy in the valley:
'Superstitious terror, indeed, kept the memory of the Old Hall alive through many generations. Stories sprang up to explain its abandonment; and the deserted rock, crowned with its pile of ruins, struck awe into the heart of the traveller who after dark passed it on his road to Rydal. Strange sounds, strange sights, pervaded it by night. Wailing voices, as of spirits in distress; headless ghosts (three in number), that danced upon its summit; and later, a white dog that terrified passengers across the Old Orchard, even, it is believed, to the middle of the last century (now the 1850's). No one now living owns to having seen the white dog, but old men and women confess to having often in childhood, laid their ear to the road-wall that leans against the How, and to thinking that they heard, while they listened in breathless expectation, strange muffled sounds issuing from its depths - the 'durge-like note from inmost chambers far remote."
Other stories tell of buried treasure on the site as well as secret passages to the New Hall. Little now remains of the site. The Old Hall fell into disrepair in the 1500 's, the stone used for the building of houses and barns in the area.
This began with the repairing and enlargement of the 'Corn Barn' which was built in the 1300's (this is the large barn just outside our main gates, shown in our Gallery). In 1659 Adam Fisher was told to clear the remains of the Old Hall by sledging the stones to the Corn Barn for the wallers to begin work. Gradually the old ponds and gardens of the Old Hall gave way to grazing with the Old Orchard now being the setting of the Cricket ground.
Parts of the present Rydal Hall date back to the early 1600's when the De Lancasters moved in, later additions made by the Le Fleming family, who owned the Hall for over 300 years, creating the building that stands today and which is now owned by the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle.
In 1847 the last stone from the Old Hall was removed to help in the building of what was then the Farm House, now of course Crow How. The house was finished in 1848
Mr Fidler first lived in Crow How with his wife and family, farming around 200 acres for over 20 years, the farm being locally known as Fiddlers Farm . It remained as a Farm House until 1933 when it was turned into a Country House, separate from the farm (now called Rydal Farm) and complete with a heated garage and tennis court set in 5 acres of gardens.
During the Second World War it reverted back to a private house, then soon after flats untilthe late 1960's when it became a Hotel once again. Today we are a Country House set in 2.5 acres of gardens, with heated bedrooms instead of garages!