The past and the present
Reservations
To make a reservation or enquiry please call now
01263 579202
Northrepps Cottage was built by Bartlett Gurney on the Northrepps Estate in 1793. It was designed in gothic style by William Wilkins of Norwich, with input from Sir Humphry Repton (above) who designed the gardens. Two of its best known residents were the ‘Cottage ladies’ Anna Gurney and Sarah Buxton.
Despite being crippled and in a wheelchair, Anna Gurney was always on the cliff tops and beaches when storms raged, directing rescue operations with a cannon on her lap to fire a line out to stricken vessels to rescue those aboard. She invented and funded the installation of a breeches buoy. Anna Gurney was a great linguist, so every shipwrecked sailor was brought to the Cottage where they were dried out, given a new set of clothes, a bible and enough money for their passage home.
Through the years, the Cottage has received many famous visitors, including the great prison and social reformer Elizabeth Fry (nee Gurney). It was used as a private house for the Gurney family right up until the late sixties. In 2009, after extensive renovations, Simon and Deborah Gurney opened the Cottage as a splendid country hotel.