Priory Cottage

Surrounded by greenery and clambering roses, Priory cottage is a peaceful romantic cottage located handily close to its namesake, 12th-century Priory. Once a shed to store the carts of horse-pulled guests visiting the estate, this delightful honey-hued bolthole has been carefully transformed into a comfortable one-bedroom dwelling (one of several other holiday homes on the estate) ideal for a couple’s stay.

Accessed via a stone pathway flanked by abundant borders you’ll step through a pretty glass porch where you can stow away your coats and wellies before heading straight into the open-plan living room which is homely with two sofas – one of which can be converted to a sofa bed on request – draped with warming throws, a log burning stove and dining table. As throughout, soft colours set a relaxing, snug tone here.

Off the sitting room you’ll find a kitchen corner where sugar-white walls enclose a hob and all the essentials needed to rustle up a delicious dinner. A tiled wet-room bathroom with a generous walk-in rainfall shower and heated towel rails completes the ground floor.

Upstairs, under a sloped ceiling with attractive, green-painted rafters, you’ll find the bedroom, where a pine chest of drawers and kingsized bed await. Though small and cosy you’ll find it luxurious with rich linens, snuggly robes – and, if you open the window, the gentle sounds of birdsong and the burbling River Coquet.

Outside the entrance porch is a private patio with two chairs, which is screened from any passers-by by bamboo fencing.

Separated by a private gate, Brinkburn Priory is only a minute’s walk away . Featuring distinctive witches’-hat towers, it was built in 1135 by Augustinian monks delighted at the seclusion of this steep, wooded valley around the snaking Coquet. Centuries later, the now-private residence was painted by Turner before seeing a gothic manor house added.

With the Priory now an English Heritage property, you’ll need to pay (or be a member) to enter and admire its stained-glass windows or William Hill organ. Around the wider, wonderful Brinkburn estate, there’s a gorgeous river trail to walk, plus a designated spot for wild swimmers just upstream from Priory Cottage.

Ready to explore further? Alnwick Castle and the pretty market town of Rothbury are close, while Coquetdale, the Coquet’s upper section, is a wonderfully wild expanse of open moorland and rocky outcrops extending into the Cheviot Hills and Northumberland National Park. You’re also within 15 miles of Alnmouth’s bay beach, and just an hour’s drive from Hadrian’s Wall.

ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION

For guests looking to holiday together, this property can be booked alongside the neighbouring cottage The Stables (sleeps 8). The Stables and Priory Cottage can be booked as a single unit sleeping 10. A further four cottages in a terrace row at the entrance of the estate, Bel House (sleeps 4), Blakey House (sleeps 4), Cuthbert House (sleeps 4), and Mullins House (sleeps 4), are located 0.5 miles away.