Six miles east of Thirsk — best known for its racecourse and as the home of the vet Alf Wight, alias James Herriot of All Creatures Great and Small fame — lies the village of Kilburn, situated on the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
The village is well known for its ‘Mouseman’ Thompson furniture workshops, and also the famous Kilburn White Horse landmark, cut into the southern flank of Sutton Bank, near Roulston Scar, at the edge of the Hambleton tableland. And in this charmingly unspoilt spot, a lovely home has come to the market: The Old Vicarage at Kilburn, for sale at £2,75 million.
The largest and most northerly of Britain’s 16 white chalk horses, the Kilburn White Horse measures 97m (318ft) long by 67m (228ft) wide, faces south-south-west and is visible for miles around. On a clear day, the horse can be seen from north Leeds, 28 miles away on the higher ground to the west of the Vale of York.
The figure was reputedly cut in 1857 on the initiative of Thomas Taylor, a native of Kilburn, who apparently attended celebrations at the prehistoric Uffington White Horse in Oxford-shire that year and was inspired to provide his home village with a similar landmark. Thirty-three men were involved in cutting it, with six tons of lime used to whiten the exposed Jurassic lime sandstone.
During the Second World War, the horse was covered over to prevent it from becoming a navigation landmark for enemy bombers. In 2018, the site was handed over to Forestry England as part of Kilburn Woods; in 2022, the horse was resprayed at a cost of £20,000.
Hilary Pegrum of York-based Blenkin & Co, is handling the sale of The Old Vicarage at Kilburn, which an unlisted late-Victorian village house originally built in 1870 of the local stone under a slated roof. It once served as the vicarage to the neighbouring Grade II*-listed St Mary’s Church, which dates from the 12th century and was restored in 1869.
Set in an acre of landscaped gardens on rising ground at the edge of the village dominated by the White Horse, the main house offers 5,245sq ft of elegant accommodation on three floors, with a gym, shower room, sauna and store room in the converted annexe and a double garage, stores and summerhouse in separate outbuildings.
The former vicarage has been refurbished in an expert collaboration between interior designer Stephen Nealls and Woods of Harrogate Furnishings and combines 19th-century architectural integrity with bespoke contemporary interiors.
Accommodation includes an entrance vestibule, staircase hall, two reception rooms, a study, kitchen/dining room and various utilities on the ground floor, with a splendid principal bedroom suite, a guest-bedroom suite, three further bedrooms and a house bathroom on the second floor.
Handmade bronze casement windows and doors, underfloor heating beneath parquet floors, cast-iron radiators, antique fireplaces and a Stûv woodburning stove set the tone for the interiors. Luxurious finishes abound, from Moiré wall coverings and Belgian carpets to Forbes & Lomax switches, Drummonds bathrooms and Czech & Speake fittings with indulgent deluge showers.
The Old Vicarage Kilburn is for sale at £2.75 million — see more details.
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