An historic grade II listed mansion house in Boroughbridge has gone on the market with an asking price of £3 million.

Boroughbridge Hall is in the centre of the town and is believed to date back to the time of James II.

Its royal links do not end there, however, as its marketing documents explain:

“The house itself dates back to the late 17th century, during the short reign of King James II, and is grade II listed.

“The current owner recently granted the grounds of Boroughbridge Hall use by the reigning British monarch for ceremonial purposes, evidence of the property’s regional status.”

It has been brought to the market by estate agency Croft, based near York.

Sales negotiator Sarah Weston said:

“When you go through the gates, you are right on the market square – it’s very handy but very, very private.

“The current owners have been there for 20 years. It has been a wonderful family home and now it’s open for a new family to take control and use it like they have.”

The house has has five bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a separate studio and en suite shower room attached to the large garage.

It has planning permission for the studio to be extended into an open barn which lies behind the garage.

Outside, the grounds extend to more than three acres and include fishing rights, as well as woodland, three paddocks and a tennis court.

Though the house is historic, the agent said it has been remodelled and maintained with many of its historic features still in place. The particulars say:

“Boroughbridge Hall dates from the 1680s with the front porch added in 1830. It was remodelled in 1947 to reduce its height from three storeys to two.

“Many fine architectural features remain including tall sash windows and bays, wall panelling, architraves, cornicing, fireplaces, panelled doors, cast iron column radiators and a superb rebuilt oak staircase faithfully following a seventeenth century design.”

Ms Weston said while Boroughbridge Hall is an unusual property to come to the market, Croft is often asked to take on the marketing of large and historic houses.

It is also advertising Littlethorpe Hall near Ripon for sale at offers over £2.25 million. The Victorian building sits in more than 13 acres of grounds, with a separate lodge house and its own chapel.

She added:

“With houses like these, you never know who’s going to buy it.

“It could be a tech genius who’s earned millions and wants a quiet life somewhere, or a family sizing up gradually, moving bigger and bigger.

“There was a massive splurge of people moving up to Yorkshire after covid. Some have decided there’s not enough up here for them, but some are still doing it.

“People can afford more here, but still be in London in a couple of hours. We’ve got the best of every world.”

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An intrepid Victorian explorer from Boroughbridge is to be the subject of a new BBC2 series starring Ruby Wax, Mel B and Emily Atack.

Isabella Bird, who was born at Boroughbridge Hall in 1831, travelled alone across the lawless American Wild West, riding 800 miles on horseback through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

She befriended outlaws, climbed mountains, and faced grizzly bears in what was a restrictive era for women in Britain.

Using her original 1873 book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains as inspiration for their own adventure, Ruby, Mel and Emily pay homage to this forgotten pioneer in the series Trailblazers: A Rocky Mountain Road Trip.

They explore the people, places and curious customs of an ever-changing America, while reflecting on the changes in western society over the last 150 years and their own experiences of womanhood.

The new series starts on BBC2 on Monday at 9pm.

Linda Dooks, secretary of the Boroughbridge and District Historical Society, said:

“Isabella Bird was born at Boroughbridge Hall to the Rev Edward Bird and his second wife Dora Lawson in 1831. The Lawsons have been owners of the hall for several generations.

“The Birds actually only stayed about six months before moving to Edinburgh, where she is buried.

“An ill child in 1850, she had a tumour removed from her spine.

“Doctors advised a sea voyage to aid her recovery her father gave her £100  ‘to leave and stay as long as the money lasted’. Her bright descriptive letters home formed the basis of An English Women in America.”

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Ms Dooks said Isabella went on to marry John Bishop in 1881, inheriting a large income after his death, which she used to extend her travels.

She added:

“First she travelled to India where she help found The John Bishop Memorial Hospital. Then on to Tibet, what was then Persia and Turkey.

“The following year she travelled to Baghdad and Tehran with a group of British soldiers.

“By now her writings were figuring in books, journals and magazines and she became a household name.

“She was the first woman to be allowed to join The Royal Geographical Society

“Her final journeys  took her up the Yangtze River, in China, where there is now a memorial garden because of the missionary work she did there.

“She then went on to Morocco, where she was given a beautiful black stallion as a gift from the sultan.

“She died at her home in Edinburgh in 1901.”

Ms Dooks said Boroughbridge only became aware of Isabelle and her exploits in the 1980s when a group of Chinese tourists asked where Isabella Bird was born.

She said:

“A plaque has since been erected on the wall in Hall Square at Boroughbridge and her exploits recorded in the book A history of Boroughbridge, published by the Boroughbridge Historical Society.”