Rook's Cottage - Self catering holiday cottage in Askrigg, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Dales, England - Sleeps 6

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Rook’s Cottage is a Grade II listed building built in 1825 and has one of only a handful of turret staircases in the Dales. The cottage is full of traditional Dales character, with oak beams, open fires, York stone and pine boarded floors, sash windows and nooks and crannies in every wall. It lies in the heart of the village of Askrigg and is only a couple of minutes walk from the shops, restaurants, pubs and village amenities.

A traditional Yorkshire Range with an open fire takes pride of place in the farmhouse style kitchen, with its hand built antique pine cupboards and dresser and York stone flagged floors. You will also find the redundant bell wheel from the Parish Church hanging from the massive old oak beams. Unusually the living room is on the first floor to take advantage of the stunning views across and up Wensleydale, and here you will find the second open fire which also contains the date stone for the cottage. A further surprise is the Secret Garden, which is also upstairs, and can only be accessed through an internal door at the top of the turret staircase.

Askrigg nestles beneath the stunning fells of Ellerkin and Askrigg Common towards the top of Wensleydale. Its two and three storey stone houses and cottages line the main street, with the 15th century parish church of St Oswalds in the centre of the village in the old cobbled market place, complete with its market cross and an iron bull ring set into the cobbles.

Visitors may recognise Cringley House as ‘Skeldale House’ from the BBC TV series ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ with the Kings Arms being the ‘Drovers Arms’ from the same series. There is a good village shop which can supply all your basic needs. Askrigg also has a delicatessen in the village and milk, cream and eggs can be bought from the local farm. There is a newsagents and three pubs, The Crown Inn, The White Rose and The Kings Arms which was filmed as The Drovers Arms in the TV series ‘All Creatures Great And Small’. The pubs provide bar meals and The Kings Arms also has The Silks Restaurant.