Regency Splendour
Shaun Castle 27 June 2007
Birkby Lodge is a fine example of 19th century polite architecture in the Regency manner, a classic composite of house, interior and gardens surrounded by its own land. Ideally located on the Solway Coast, the property is tucked into a natural prominence with expansive views west to the sea and Galloway ranges of Criffel and Cairnsmore of Fleet, and east to the Lakeland ranges of Skiddaw and Grisedale Pike.
Noted by Pevsner in The Buildings of England: Cumberland and Westmorland (1967), Birkby Lodge is believed to date from 1844, occupying a site of much earlier provenance, being the original seat of the Bigland and Beeby family. Reflecting the maritime prosperity of early 19th century Maryport, Birkby Lodge stands along the promontary of fine mansions and villas overlooking the sea built during this period by merchants, ship builders and sea masters. Thought to have been built for the Scaife family, of Bigland and Beeby descent, the property finally passed out of the ancestral line at the end of the 19th century.
The house is of rendered sandstone construction under a hipped slate roof with deep overhanging eaves. Symmetrically ‘Regency’ in massing and proportion, the three-storey, three-bay house has a part raised basement with side railing entrance, Graeco-Italian portico of unfluted Ionic columns and blank arched window recesses to ground floor. Equally ‘Regency’ in its interior, the elegantly proportioned arrangement of rooms have shuttered sash windows with fine glazing bars, ornate fireplaces, decorative stucco moulding, cornicing and drapery of classical motif.
Carefully restored and furnished in the classical repertoire, the house is augemented by restoration of the formal gardens, and complemented by an ongoing programme of new planting, opening each year to the public as an NGS garden.
Birkby Lodge is for sale through Lakes & Country 01228 516409.
