Haweswater House hotel in Cumbria has been bough by the Wigan-based Oltec Group.

The hotel at Bampton, near Penrith – the only residential building in the valley – overlooks Lake Hawesworth, which is the highest lake in the Lake District.

It was built in 1937 to replace the Old Dunn Bull in the Mardale Valley, which was flooded in the 1930s to create a reservoir of water for Manchester. It was owned by the Manchester Corporation, which used it for conferences and civic purposes until the 1970s when it became a private hotel.
 
 The property provides 15 bedrooms to sleep 30, of which nine are en-suite, along with a large, two-bedroom owners’ apartment and four staff bedrooms.

Facilities include the Walkers bar (which features a slate central fireplace and a slate-fronted serving bar) and a residents’ lounge with an Adam-style fireplace and a 40-seat dining room that leads onto the terrace.

The hotel has landscaped, tiered gardens and planning permission to construct two cottages.

The Manchester office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the freehold off a guide price of £965,000 on behalf of Richard and Brigid Boland.

By Angela Frewin