Askham Hall
Askham Hall is the Lowther family’s own home, a Grade I listed building that grew out of a 13th-century pele tower, on the eastern edge of the Lake District where the fells drop into the Eden valley.
Askham Hall is an estate destination wedding venue in Askham, United Kingdom, hosting 150 at dinner, where a wedding for 80 guests costs about £22,000 (our estimate), reached from Manchester (MAN), About 1 hour 45 minutes by car.
About Askham Hall
Askham Hall is the Lowther family’s own home, a Grade I listed building that grew out of a 13th-century pele tower, on the eastern edge of the Lake District where the fells drop into the Eden valley.
Charlie Lowther turned it into a restaurant with rooms rather than a hotel, and it now runs 19 bedrooms, a kitchen garden that supplies the plates, a wild swimming pond and a farm on the 800-year-old Lowther estate behind it.
Weddings take the place exclusively.
The Bank Barn, Grade II listed and converted with a glass wall onto the gardens, seats about 150 and holds 200 standing; ceremonies happen there, in the hall’s own rooms or outside in the topiary garden, which is medieval in outline and the best photograph on the property.
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Capacity, rooms and facilities
Capacity
- Seated dinner
- 150 guests
Staying over
- Rooms
- 19 rooms
- Sleeps
- 42 guests
- Whole property to yourselves
- Yes
The ceremony
- Legal ceremony on site
- Yes
- Outdoor ceremony
- Yes
Money
- A wedding for 80 guests
- About £22,000, rooms extraAisle estimate
- Price
- £1,800 to £6,000 venue feeAisle estimate
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- MAN, 105 min by carAisle estimate
- Parking
- Yes
- Step-free access
- Yes
The spaces
- Setting
- Countryside, historic, relaxedAisle estimate
Food and drink
- In-house catering
- Yes
- Outside caterers allowed
- No
Venue highlights
- Grade I listed hall grown from a 13th-century pele tower
- Bank Barn seats about 150 and holds 200 standing
- Exclusive use of the hall, 19 bedrooms and the gardens
- Hire from about £1,800 midweek off-peak to £6,000 peak weekend
A sample wedding weekend
See the day-by-day outline+
Use this as a starting point and adapt it to your bookings and guests.
- 18:00Arrival supper in the hall, drinks in the walled garden
- 13:30Ceremony in the topiary garden or the Bank Barn
- 15:00Reception on the lawns, swimming for anyone brave
- 19:00Dinner in the Bank Barn, dancing until late
- 10:30Breakfast, then Ullswater or the fells
Costs and booking details
- Getting there
- MAN · about 1 h 45 by carAisle estimate
Guests fly into Manchester.
Questions about the venue
How many guests can Askham Hall hold?+
The Bank Barn seats about 150 for a ceremony and a wedding breakfast and takes 200 standing. Smaller weddings use the hall’s own rooms and the topiary garden, and the venue is happy with counts well below fifty.
What does it cost to hire Askham Hall?+
Published hire for the barn, hall and gardens runs from roughly £1,800 for an off-peak midweek date to about £6,000 for a peak weekend, quoted for 2028 dates. Accommodation, food and drink are charged on top of that figure.
How many guests can stay on site?+
Nineteen bedrooms in the hall and its buildings, so roughly 35 to 40 people sleep on site. Askham village, Lowther and Penrith take the rest, all within five to fifteen minutes by car.
Is it actually in the Lake District?+
It sits just inside the national park boundary on the quieter eastern side, ten minutes from junction 40 of the M6 and about twenty-five minutes from Ullswater. That position is why guests can reach it without an hour on single-track roads.
Where does the food come from?+
The kitchen garden and the surrounding Lowther estate farms supply much of it, and the kitchen builds wedding menus around what is in season rather than from a fixed package, which is worth discussing early if you have a set menu in mind.
How do guests travel there?+
Penrith station is ten minutes away with direct West Coast trains from London Euston in about three hours and from Glasgow in under two. Manchester airport is around an hour and forty-five minutes by car.
Could this be your venue?
Ask about pricing and availability for the month you have in mind. You do not need a fixed date.
Still deciding? Elena is Aisle’s AI wedding planner. Give her a month and a guest count and she will forecast the budget, work out how your guests would travel, and put a first plan on paper. No account needed.
Other wedding venues
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- Bachilton BarnMethven, ScotlandAlso in United Kingdom
- Balmacara MainsKyle, ScotlandAlso in United Kingdom
- Blenheim PalaceWoodstock, EnglandAlso in United Kingdom
- Borthwick CastleMidlothian, United KingdomAlso in United Kingdom
- Boturich CastleAlexandria, ScotlandAnother estate
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Sources and booking notes
Confirm your dates, guest numbers, room arrangements and inclusions with the venue before booking. An enquiry does not reserve a date. Figures labelled Aisle estimate are modelled from regional rates and public sources; they are not venue quotes.
Sources for individual venue facts
Seated dinner: 150 guests
“Accommodating up to 150 guests, Bank Barn offers plenty of space for your wedding breakfast, speeches and evening reception, while our experienced events team will ensure every detail is thoughtfully planned and beautifully delivered.”
Read the source for seated dinnerRooms: 19 rooms
“With 19 individually designed bedrooms, Askham Hall can accommodate up to 42 guests, making it the perfect setting for a wedding weekend where your closest family and friends can celebrate and stay together.”
Read the source for roomsSleeps: 42 guests
“With 19 individually designed bedrooms, Askham Hall can accommodate up to 42 guests, making it the perfect setting for a wedding weekend where your closest family and friends can celebrate and stay together.”
Read the source for sleepsWhole property to yourselves: Yes
“Available for exclusive use, Askham Hall offers a truly private and romantic backdrop for celebrations, from intimate gatherings to weddings of up to 150 guests.”
Read the source for whole property to yourselvesLegal ceremony on site: Yes
“Yes, we have several ceremony locations varying from 2 to 150 guests, both indoors and outdoors.”
Read the source for legal ceremony on siteOutdoor ceremony: Yes
“Our beautiful sweeping lawns provide a picturesque setting for your wedding ceremony, allowing you to say “I do” amidst the beauty of the outdoors.”
Read the source for outdoor ceremonyIn-house catering: Yes
“We kindly request that all catering, except for wedding cakes or cheese displays, be arranged through our in-house services.”
Read the source for in-house cateringOutside caterers allowed: No
“We kindly request that all catering, except for wedding cakes or cheese displays, be arranged through our in-house services.”
Read the source for outside caterers allowedParking: Yes
“There is a spacious car park at the main house, accommodating all Askham Hall guests.”
Read the source for parkingStep-free access: Yes
“We have two accessible ground-floor bedrooms, ramp access to the main house and one of our barn entrances is designed for easy disabled access.”
Read the source for step-free access