Major renovations are underway on a Cumbrian stately home which was once used by the Kray twins.
Kirklinton Hall, situated near Carlisle, was put up for sale last year for £450,000 and was quickly scooped up by husband and wife duo Jessica and George Palmer.
In the 20th century, it functioned as a country house, RAF base, a school, a hotel, a nightclub, a casino and a gangsters’ gambling den as well as a hide-out for infamous gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
Now in the hands of Jessica, 34, of Kendal and George, 32, of Oxford, the pair have big plans for the site that aim to respect the hall’s history while also giving it a new lease of life.
Jessica said that the overall the hall will remain a commercial property that will be open to the public and for events and weddings.
She said: “I’ve been a wedding photographer for 13 years and my husband is a marine engineer, so he works at sea for half the year and then comes home for the other half.
“When he’s at home he spends a lot of time renovating properties, so our plan is to build a commercial property which enables him to come back on land in the long run.
“We wanted something that would pay for itself and give him something to do and we always wanted a wedding venue. So when Kirklinton came up it was a perfect choice, because it’ll keep him busy for many years to come.”
The duo have since started work and have drawn up a plan to renovate the entire site including everything from the main house which is in ruins, to the extensive gardens and main function hall.
She added: “It’s primarily going to be our home, so we don’t want to over-commercialise it, but these country houses need to pay for themselves otherwise they have no hope.
“Every part of the main building is ruin and it doesn’t have a roof, only exterior walls. The back of the building is falling in on itself so it’s unsafe at the moment.
“The hall has been built in two stages, the first half is the symmetrical Georgian side built in the 1600s and then in 1875 the Victorian add on is the main hall, it’s the Georgian part at the back that is dangerous.
“The stable yard is also a complete ruin so that’s going to be another big project. The pavilion, which is part of the ruin has now been all done out and that’s liveable because that’s where we are at the minute.
“The coachhouse and tower have roofs and interior walls, what we’re renovating is the interiors really, we’re not doing too much to the outside other than tidying it up at the moment.”
The areas the pair are currently renovating are set to be turned into five holiday lets alongside a sixth cottage that they plan to use as their family home until the main house is renovated.
Jess said: “At the moment we’re working on three of the holiday lets. We have the pavilion, which is at the back of the property, so that’s half of the main house and part of the main ruin, so it’s a bit more of a formal cottage and is one bed.
“The previous owners did a lot of the work on it, so we’re finishing it off and it’ll be available from August 1.
“Then we’re creating a two-bed unit in the courtyard which used to be the carriage house and then we have the tower where we’re creating a one-bed unit as well.
“In the stable yard across the courtyard we will be creating another three cottages with one of those being our eight to 10 year home until we do the main house as there’s a lot of work to do with it.”
She added that they are anticipating the main house will be more of a rolling process that it will be a 15-year project due to its dilapidated state.
Jess said: “We’re putting a roof on the main hall which is our main function room for weddings and events this autumn, so we can hopefully get that water tight and useable from next year.
“We’ll also be hosting other bits and pieces including a pumpkin patch in the autumn and we want to put something on for Halloween. We’d also like to put on firework displays and we’ll be bringing back the Christmas market as well this year.
“This summer we’ve also got a medieval fair being run by a company who are hiring out the space.”
Jess’ sister-in-law owns a renewable energy heating company who are doing the plumbing, under-floor heating and are looking into renewables for the hall.
Extensive landscaping is also taking place to change the hall’s former kitchen gardens into a more visually striking display of ornamental plants and flowers.
Jess said: “It’s important to me that it’s beautiful, so we’re working on bringing colour back into the gardens. It is all still very green and we’d like to bring in different colours as the seasons change.
“As a wedding photographer it’s important that we have photo worthy parts of the site throughout the seasons. So that means blossoms in spring, colour in summer and then deep reds in autumn.”
For now, the gardens are being left to grow so that the duo and their landscaping designer can see what plants they have to work with.
She added: “When you look at it from the front it’s very masculine and I don’t want it to have that scary haunted mansion feel, so we’re growing roses on the front of the house and keeping the ruin in the back to soften its masculine exterior.
“It will be very beautiful and manicured in the front but still that ruin at the back, we plan to install clear plastic at the back where the ruin is so people can look into it and not venture through because it is unsafe.”
While the hall is currently not open to the public due to the ongoing work, the duo are aiming to reopen the gardens from next April.
Bookings for summer 2024 weddings are also being taken. Jess said that an outdoor marquee will replace the main hall function room until 2025 when they expect it to be fully renovated and ready.
She added: “We did originally want to start taking bookings this year, but we decided to just do it all once and destroy the place rather than doing and redoing things.
“But in the main hall I’d like to keep the exposed stone walls and just fix the roof and double glaze the windows, I want to keep that ruined feel.
“At the end of the day Kirklinton is a ruin and that’s what draws people in so we’ll keep that greenery growing up the walls inside and we may add olive trees.
“We’ll also add a bar, toilets and hopefully a mezzanine to make use of the bay windows. But It’s still miles away from the patterned carpets of your typical Lake District hotel!”
Whilst the groundwork takes place in the gardens, the couple have also unearthed little historic relics including a 100-year-old glass bottle.
Jess said: “We’ve found five intact bottles including a Vaseline bottle, perfume bottle, inkwell and old beer bottles. We’re keen to learn more about the history and we do know about it being a casino and that the Kray twins stayed here.
“I’ve heard that they used to launder their money through Kirklinton, but it is fascinating and we would love to know more about it as we continue work.”
She added that so far, they had not come across any problems in the renovation and were enjoying the process.
She said: “Renovation in general is stressful, but with George taking on a lot of the work himself it’s easier in that respect because we don’t have to rely on so many contractors, the hardest part is pinning contractors down because everyone is so busy.
“The actual build has been really enjoyable so far but the garden is never ending, so we’ll be hiring a gardener at some point because it is far too big for one person.
“We have a four-year-old called Evie and she tells people she lives in a castle but she’s actually just sleeping in a dressing room waiting on us moving into the courtyard in July where she’ll have a proper bedroom!”
