A Yorkshire pub reborn as a stylish place to stay

Tom Griffiths

In some ways, time has stood still in the North Yorkshire village of Nun Monkton. It has no through road, so there is no passing traffic. Cattle still graze on the village green complete with its maypole. And you can take the ferry across the River Ouse to Beningbrough. But for The Alice Hawthorn, named after a famous 19th-century racehorse and the last remaining pub in the village, change was required if it was to survive – there were once four pubs, when Nun Monkton acted as a thriving service station for river traffic that went as far as York. However, the change had to be sensitively orchestrated to ensure it was both a destination at which guests could stay in comfort for the weekend and a community pub, where villagers were happy. 

The renovated The Alice Hawthorn now has 12 bedrooms. ‘We are returning to the idea of the old-fashioned tavern, where you can stay, eat and enjoy yourself,’ says Angus Morrogh-Ryan of De Matos Ryan, the architectural practice behind the project. However, this tavern is very much of the 21st century. At its heart is the old pub: a pretty redbrick building with an appealing restaurant that makes imaginative use of local produce, a smaller bar area and, upstairs, four spacious and elegant bedrooms. At the back, arranged around a courtyard/pub garden – envisaged by Angus as an extension of the village green, inspired by the idea of the Norse ‘garth’ or grassy cloister – is a series of beautifully detailed timber-framed, larch-clad buildings. Completely modern in spirit and design, they contain eight further bedrooms. 

In authentic agricultural materials, such as corrugated steel and larch, these buildings reflect the character of the surrounding farmsteads. For Angus, the most exciting thing is the honesty of the architecture. ‘The way it looks is the way it is built – there is no fakery.’ Sustainability underpins every aspect of the design, from the heating to the natural ventilation through clerestory windows.

The new buildings include the The Field Barn, Stables and Tack Room, and bedrooms with names such as Saddle, Stirrup and Hay. These are almost Scandinavian in style, lined with larch boarding and poplar plywood. Furnishings are comfortable yet minimalist with headboards made of fabric panels between timber studs. 

Anyone arriving after a long journey will be met with a sense of calm and wholesomeness – and the feeling that life’s stresses will quickly be left behind. There is something magical about the glowing courtyard at night, with the sound of people chatting in the beer garden. It may be new, and strikingly contemporary in this historic Yorkshire village, but it feels entirely appropriate.

WAYS AND MEANS 

The Alice Hawthorn, The Green, Nun Monkton, York has double rooms from £150, B&B (thealicehawthorn.com).