Built in 1805, The Manor was known as Uphill Castle; it is one of the most historic buildings in the area and serves as ‘one of the most unusual urban hotels in the country.’
Purchased in 1853 by Thomas Tutton-Knyfton, he added the Drawing Room and Octagonal Hall and Tower in the Victorian ‘High Gothic’ style – striking architecture with intricate stone work and stencilling. The wallpaper used in the Drawing Room was designed by Augustus Pugin in the 1840’s and is also used in the Palace of Westminster.
The early-19th-century garden and woodland feature lawns, shrubbery, an ornamental pond, an icehouse and a walled kitchen garden.
The property is now run as an exclusive bed and breakfast establishment.
However a fire tore through Uphill Manor in July 2016, gutting some of the building’s roofs, floors and staircases and destroying five bedrooms and the staff quarters.
Most of the domestic quarters of the property, where owners Craig and Tina Kennedy live, escaped the blaze but it was badly affected by smoke, heat and water after firefighters used 60,000 litres of water to put out the blaze.
Some of the most historically important parts of the building, including the dining room, library, smoke room, drawing room and octagonal hall and entrance halls were also severely damaged by smoke and water.
Mid Beds Locksmiths were called in to provide a detailed ironmongery schedule of works, restoring historic ironmongery, manufacturing replicas and upgrading security and functionality.