Tenants sought for 18th Century hunting lodge

The house overlooks Malham Tarn in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

The National Trust is letting a historic Grade II listed hunting lodge and surrounding buildings.

Malham Tarn House, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, was previously tenanted to the Field Studies Council, and has been vacant since autumn 2023.

Estate agent Savills said the National Trust was looking for a “community-minded tenant” to work alongside it as a partner.

National Trust Yorkshire Dales general manager Martin Davies said it was important to be “careful and diligent when looking at a sustainable future use” for the buildings near Malham Cove.

Malham Tarn is believed to have inspired author Charles Kingsley to write The Water Babies, published in 1863

“Tarn House has been a Malhamdale landmark for many generations,” he said.

“But its most recent usage for more than 70 years as an educational centre meant it was also quite enigmatic.

"People would tell us that they might walk past it all the time but had no idea what went on there."

The lodge overlooks Malham Tarn and is seven miles from Settle.

It was built by Thomas Lister as a summer house in 1780 and bought by the National Trust in 1946.

Other buildings on the site, including a stables and cottages, are available dependent on the prospective tenant's needs.

The trust said it was open to conversations with potential tenants about what the spaces could be used for and how many of the buildings they would need.

Savills said applications to use the buildings as a hotel, restaurant or office space would not be considered, but proposals that complement the properties, their surroundings and benefit local communities and businesses would be considered favourably.

In the 19th Century, Malham Tarn House was home to philanthropist and MP Walter Morrison who hosted famous visitors including author Charles Kingsley, who is thought to have been inspired to write The Water Babies while staying there.

The buildings are within a site of special scientific interest and back on to the Pennine Way, with Tarn Moss National Nature Reserve less than half a mile away.

The National Trust has commissioned architects Buttress to create a conservation management plan and will host a public drop-in day at Malham Village Hall on the afternoon of 17 September.

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