History of the Egerton House Hotel

Egerton House has since Victorian times been a "Textile House" . Earlier it was a farm. Only the barn remains of the farm outbuildings. The centre of the house is the original building. In Victorian times it was extended to the south- the present front.

The house belonged to and was occupied by the Ashworth family, who owned the spinning and weaving mill across the road. Later, towards the end of the textile Trade, it was bought by the Deakin family. They continued to function in the bleaching and dyeing capacity until 1959 when the area became an Industrial Estate.
After the house was sold to the Deakin Family, a son of the Ashworth family married one of the Deakin's daughters. They occupied the house from 1902 until their deaths in the early 1960's. They had no children.

From 1965 Egerton House became the property of Desmond Deakin and his Danish born wife Birte, who lived in the house with their five children until 1968. It was a delightful family home.

In 1971 they converted Egerton House into a Country House Hotel and opened with 4 en-suite bedrooms, and shortly after added two more. All of this was within the original house. They converted the top floor into living quarters for the family.

Later further extensions were built - 12 bedrooms to the east and 8 to the north. The restaurant was added in 1972.

A stone with a Deakin family crest is set into the wall near the garden exit.

The gardens were designed by Edmund Ashworth, who occupied the house in the first half of the 1900's. His ashes are buried at the bottom of the garden.

There were 110 different varieties of Rhododendron, some very rare, a very large Weeping Elm, one of the largest in the area, which, alas, succumbed to the Dutch Elm disease in the 80's. Some magnificent, very colourful Maples, Magnolias, etc., are also in the garden. There was a stream running in the garden until local development altered the lie of the land and put paid to that delightful feature.

1996 - MacDonald Hotels bought Egerton House, adding to its corporate portfolio.

During the nineties and early 2000's the property passed through the hands of four corporate companies until Macdonald Hotels sold the property on the 18th of December 2003 to a local lady Jan Hampton. Jan has worked in the hospitality industry for over twenty years.

Jan and the team now have an excellent reputation for quality and service.