Built as a tithe barn for the abbey lands and later restored as a hotel, this is twelve characterful rooms beneath cathedral-scale beams. Wordsworth's birthplace is a five-minute walk; Buttermere a thirty-minute drive. Breakfast is taken in the old threshing floor.
The story
Built in the 16th century to receive a tithe — one tenth of the local harvest, owed to the abbey — the Tithe Barn stood on the corner of Kirkgate and Market Place long before Cockermouth had cobbles, gas lamps or a Wordsworth.
The restoration kept what mattered: the cathedral-scale oak trusses, the gothic arched windows, the dressed stone of the threshing floor (now the breakfast room). Twelve rooms sit beneath the eaves, each different — some with the original beams running clean through the ceiling.
The town is a five-minute walk in any direction — Wordsworth's birthplace, Jennings Brewery, the Wednesday market. Buttermere, Crummock and the Whinlatter forest are all within half an hour by car.
Best for
- A heritage town base for the western Lakes
- Couples wanting character over polish
- Walkers heading for Buttermere & Crummock
- Foodies — the bar kitchen is properly run
The detail
- 12 heritage rooms
- Restaurant & bar
- Cockermouth town centre
- EV charging
