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The Upper House Story

1378 – TODAY

THERE IS NO WHERE QUITE LIKE UPPER HOUSE

And staying there connects you to some of the great stories in British history.

This castle, this mountain, this history.

Upper House Estate:
THE HOME OF GREAT EVENTS!

  • Birthplace of the first National Park
  • The beloved escape of Agatha Christie
  • Setting of the world’s best-selling novel in the 1900s
  • Home of the Templar’s Knights Hospitaller for 100 years
  • Hunting Lodge of textile giant Sir James Watts, Mayor of Manchester

Earliest records from 1378 -1718, show that Upper House was passed for generations through the family Kinder. By 1754 the house was held by the Bennet Family, who rebuilt parts of it, leaving date stones on the entrance ways.

And the scene ofspectacular weddings!

And the scene of
spectacular weddings!

Our pub pays homage to the Knights with this plaque embedded in the bar.

Our pub pays homage to the Knights
with this plaque embedded in the bar.

Earliest records from 1378 -1718, show that Upper House was passed for generations through the family Kinder. By 1754 the house was held by the Bennet Family, who rebuilt parts of it, leaving date stones on the entrance ways.

By 1800, Upper House was occupied by the Marriotts, formerly of the Ughill Knights Templar. They became the Knights Hospitallers, offering hospitality to travellers over Kinder. Edale Cross, to the south west of Upper House, was re-erected in 1810 to notify travellers that they were within a Templar preceptory. Knights Hospitaller’s of the 1800’s became the St John’s Ambulance service with a current membership of over 500,000 volunteers worldwide.

UPPER HOUSE WAS PERFECTLY POSITIONED AT THE CONVERGENCE OF THREE PACK HORSE ROUTES FROM HAYFIELD, GLOSSOP AND EDALE. IT BECAME A WAYSIDE INN OFFERING HOSPITALITY TO TRAVELLERS THROUGH THE PENNINES. “MAN-HOLES” IN THE FABRIC OF THE BUILDING SHOW WHERE MEN WOULD HAVE HIDDEN FROM BRITISH ARMIES SEEKING TO CONSCRIPT THEM INTO THE WARS OF THE 18TH CENTURY!

The best-selling novel of 1900 in both the UK and the USA, The History of David Grieve, was written at Upper House. Author Mary Augusta Ward went on to found the first universities for women in the world, Somerville Hall in Oxford and The Mary Ward Centre in Tavistock Place, London. At these centres, she developed the first childcare facilities in Britain. Mary became the first female Magistrate in the UK and was the only female journalist to be allowed access to the trenches in the First World War

THE KINDER TRESPASS OF 1932 IS RECOGNISED AS THE SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF RAMBLER’S RIGHTS, AND THE CREATION OF NATIONAL PARKS GLOBALLY. JAMES WATTS’ GAMESMAN, EDWARD BEEVER, WAS INJURED ON THE DAY. THE DISTURBANCES HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH THE DYNAMICS OF HAYFIELD PER SE, BUT THE WELL ORGANISED TRESPASS TOOK PLACE ON THE MOST PROMINENT AND ACCESSIBLE SUMMIT IN THE NORTH WEST TO MAKE THEIR POINT.
THE KINDER TRESPASS OF 1932 IS RECOGNISED AS THE SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF RAMBLER’S RIGHTS, AND THE CREATION OF NATIONAL PARKS GLOBALLY. JAMES WATTS’ GAMESMAN, EDWARD BEEVER, WAS INJURED ON THE DAY. THE DISTURBANCES HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH THE DYNAMICS OF HAYFIELD PER SE, BUT THE WELL ORGANISED TRESPASS TOOK PLACE ON THE MOST PROMINENT AND ACCESSIBLE SUMMIT IN THE NORTH WEST TO MAKE THEIR POINT.

Incredible wildlife habitat!

Incredible wildlife habitat!

Kinder Scout has exceptional geological features such as the longest waterfall, incredible rock outcrops and a rare blanket bog. It’s social history encompasses several Bronze Age burial mounds, charcoal production, ancient iron smelting and cutlery manufacture and 17th century mill stone production, as well as being the site of well documented wartime air crashes and The Kinder Trespass.

Upper House was refashioned in 1907 as the luxury hunting lodge of Sir James Watts, at the heart of his 6,000 acre Kinder Scout Estate. The Estate had been in the family since the mid 1800’s, who sold the land for the Kinder Reservoir to Stockport Council in the late 1800s. After the death of Jack Watts in 1961, the estate was left to Agatha Christie’s grandson, Matthew Prichard and remained in the family until 1987, when Kinder Scout was sold to The National Trust.

The three James Watts’ on the steps of Upper House. The man in the middle married Agatha Christie’s sister, Madge Miller. Agatha used Upper House as her secret retreat throughout her life. Her daughter Rosalind, in a letter of 2001, recalls “a lot of happy memories made at Upper House,” a tradition we aim to continue!

The three James Watts’ on the steps of Upper House. The man in the middle married Agatha Christie’s sister, Madge Miller. Agatha used Upper House as her secret retreat throughout her life. Her daughter Rosalind, in a letter of 2001, recalls “a lot of happy memories made at Upper House,” a tradition we aim to continue!

The three James Watts’ on the steps of Upper House. The man in the middle married Agatha Christie’s sister, Madge Miller. Agatha used Upper House as her secret retreat throughout her life. Her daughter Rosalind, in a letter of 2001, recalls “a lot of happy memories made at Upper House,” a tradition we aim to continue!

James Watts was Lord Mayor of Manchester between 1855-57 and orchestrated the largest Art Exhibition ever held in the world, The Art Treasures of Great Britain in 1857, with over 16,000 works on display in a spectacular glass and iron structure. He hosted Prince Albert and Prime Minister Disreali during the exhibition at his home in Abney Hall, Cheadle, and on his Kinder Scout estate. During this period, James received his knighthood and was granted the Manchester worker bee symbol and the wheatsheaf for his family crest by Queen Victoria, in recognition to his services to the city and the country.

Manchester’s Charles Halle’s Orchestra was assembled to play during the exhibition and they have played ever since.

AGATHA CHRISTIE IN THE NORTH

Throughout her teens and married life Agatha became a regular house-guest of her sister and brother-in-law, especially at Christmas, when she variously stayed at Abney Hall, Cheadle and the Hayfield properties, first Farlands House just outside the village, and later Upper House Farm on the slopes above Kinder Reservoir.

READ AGATHA's STORY

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Upper House Estate
Kinder Road
Kinder
Hayfield
Derbyshire

Contact us

E: info@upperhousehayfield.com

T: 07973 781 513

Sovereign Events

Company Number: 13351081

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