A STATELY home near Selby has been put up for sale, and could come complete with a title for the new owner.

Gateforth Hall, which is more than 200-years-old, has gone on the market for £1.35m, and when it was originally sold included the title of Lord Of The Manor Of Gateforth And Lund.

The 15,000 square foot, Grade II-listed Georgian country mansion, which was built in 1812 as a hunting lodge for gin magnate Sir Humphrey Brooke Osbaldeston, has previously been used as a hotel, nightclub, restaurant and an isolation hospital for TB patients.

Current owners Lisa and Paul Stringer restored the hall back into an eight-bedroom family home using the original plans for the house, and commissioned a specialist plasterer who had worked on Buckingham and Bishopthorpe Palaces to restore the period ornate mouldings.

Lisa, whose family has owned Gateforth for ten years, said: "It’s amazing to think that at the time when this lovely house was built, the Napoleonic Wars were in full swing and the Luddites were smashing up mechanised looms in mills not far from here.

"Gateforth Hall has seen two hundred years of history, and been through many reincarnations, but for us it has been a warm and wonderful home. Paul and I have been able to restore Gateforth back to being a family house for the first time since the 1890s and that has been a labour of love and a real privilege."

Paul said: "We believe that the manorial title could be reclaimed by whoever buys the property. It’s not something that we were interested in pursuing ourselves but the house was sold with that title when it was taken over by the City of Leeds."

For more details about Gateforth Hall, go to CroftResidential.co.uk or phone 01904 238222.