19/08/2026
SIMONSTONE HALL, HAWES â THE YORKSHIRE DALES HOTEL WITH MORE STORIES THAN MOST PLACES COULD FIT INTO A LIFETIME
There are hotels you stay in.
And then there are places where you walk through the door and realise the walls have been watching history unfold for centuries.
High above Hawes in Upper Wensleydale, surrounded by the green folds, stone walls and enormous skies of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, stands Simonstone Hall.
It looks peaceful.
And most of the time, it is.
But this old Yorkshire country house has one hell of a story.
Long before the television crews, celebrity guests, weddings, cocktails and candlelit dinners, the land here formed part of the estates once associated with the Abbey of Jervaulx.
The building developed over centuries. In 1733, Cuthbert Stuart altered Simonstone Hall â his initials can still be found on the building â and the Stuart-Wortley family, Lords Wharncliffe, later used Simonstone as a country and hunting residence.
In 1885 further alterations were made by architects Carpenter and Ingelow.
Then came war.
During the Second World War, Simonstone Hall was occupied by the British Armed Forces.
Peace returned. The soldiers left. The Hall became a private home again.
And in 1981, Simonstone began another chapter as a country house hotel.
But its most famous modern chapter was still to come.
4 March 2015.
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and the BBC Top Gear production team were staying at Simonstone Hall while filming in North Yorkshire.
What happened that night would become international news.
The BBCâs subsequent investigation established that, on the patio at Simonstone Hall, Jeremy Clarkson physically and verbally attacked Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon following the dayâs filming.
It was the incident that ultimately led to the BBC deciding not to renew Clarksonâs Top Gear contract.
For a brief moment, this quiet country house near Hawes found itself at the centre of one of the biggest television stories in Britain.
But Simonstoneâs story didnât end on that patio.
Far from it.
A year later came another turning point.
A young Yorkshireman called Jake Dinsdale took on Simonstone Hall.
Jake knew the place already. He had worked there during school and university holidays before training in architecture and working overseas and in London.
He returned home to Hawes at just 26 and took on the challenge of breathing new life into a remarkable old building.
Ten years later, Simonstone feels less like a conventional hotel and much more like the country house it was always supposed to be.
Open fires.
Deep chairs.
A proper country bar.
Good wine.
Real ales.
Cocktails.
Dogs asleep after long walks.
Boots by the door.
A south-facing terrace looking straight across Upper Wensleydale.
And food that actually belongs to the landscape outside the windows.
The kitchenâs emphasis is on local, seasonal and even home-grown or home-reared produce, combining modern dishes with Yorkshire and country-house favourites.
There is breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.
The award-winning afternoon tea is served daily by advance booking.
In the evening, the restaurant and country bar take over, with seasonal menus, local ingredients, classic dishes, contemporary cooking, wine and cocktails.
And you donât have to be staying at the hotel to eat here.
Then there are the rooms.
From smaller Cosy Rooms and characterful Estate Rooms to larger Principal Rooms and Suites, some look straight across the extraordinary landscape of Upper Wensleydale.
Some rooms are dog friendly.
Some have big baths and separate showers.
There are private outdoor hot-tub sessions too.
But perhaps the greatest luxury is simply waking up here.
Curtains open.
Yorkshire Dales outside.
Coffee.
Boots on.
And miles of countryside waiting beyond the door.
Simonstone is also becoming known again as somewhere to celebrate.
Yorkshire Dales weddings. Private parties. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Family celebrations. Meetings. Food events. Romantic weekends.
A wedding here isnât taking place in a function room that could be anywhere in Britain.
Itâs taking place in Wensleydale.
The hills are the backdrop.
The Hall is the set.
And when the evening light drops across the valley, very little decoration is required.
And just when you think Simonstoneâs celebrity chapter began and ended with Top GearâŠ
Hollywood arrived.
During the making of Emerald Fennellâs Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, cast and crew took over Simonstone Hall for around two and a half weeks.
Robbie and Elordi stayed in Principal Rooms.
There were meals together, afternoon tea, Sunday roast, walks in the surrounding countryside and evenings around the outdoor fire pits.
Think about that for a moment.
A historic Yorkshire house.
On the edge of some of Englandâs wildest countryside.
Once home to generations of Yorkshire families.
Used by the Armed Forces during wartime.
Later turned into a hotel.
The scene of the incident that changed Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear forever.
Then, years later, hosting Margot Robbie, Jacob Elordi and a major film production.
And through all of it, Simonstone Hall remains what matters most:
a genuinely good country hotel in one of the most beautiful parts of Yorkshire.
Come for lunch after exploring Hawes.
Come for afternoon tea in Wensleydale.
Sit on the terrace with a drink and watch the weather move across the hills.
Book dinner and taste produce inspired by the Yorkshire Dales.
Stay for a romantic weekend.
Bring the dog and walk straight from the hotel.
Hold the wedding.
Celebrate the birthday.
Order another bottle of wine.
Sit beside the fire.
Then wake up and explore Hawes, Hardraw Force, Wensleydale, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Aysgarth Falls, Buttertubs Pass, the Dales countryside and the walking country surrounding Upper Wensleydale.
Because Simonstone Hall isnât interesting simply because Jeremy Clarkson once stayed here.
And it isnât special simply because Hollywood came calling.
Those are chapters.
The place itself is the story.
More than two centuries of country-house history, a young local owner who came home and took a chance on it, Yorkshire food and drink, weddings, rooms, fireside evenings, spectacular Wensleydale views and one extraordinary landscape outside the front door.
Some hotels manufacture character.
Simonstone Hall has had centuries to acquire it.
And somewhere above Hawes tonight, the lights will come on in those old windows again.
Dinner will be served.
Glasses will be poured.
Someone will be checking into a room.
Someone else will be looking across Wensleydale for the first time.
And Simonstone Hall will quietly begin another night of its very long story.
Simonstone Hall Country House Hotel, Hawes, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire â in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
fans Yorkshire Dales Uncovered
Simonstone Hall Hotel
