Sir Thomas le Fleming built the first Rydal Hall at St John’s Knott, Ambleside in 1409. The family moved to the present site at the end of the fifteenth century with William Fleming building the Hall in 1600.

William’s son, Daniel, (1633-1701) made improvements to the house and grounds – he added farm and service buildings and built ‘my Grott-house’ overlooking the Rydal Falls. By the 18th century, this had become a popular tourist spot. The travel writer, William Gilpin (1724-1804), visited the waterfall on his travels through the Lake District. He wrote in Observations on Cumberland and Westmoreland, 1788: ‘[it is] so beautiful… It is seen from a summer-house… appearing through the window like a picture in a frame. The water falls within a few yards of the eye… as it hurries from the higher grounds; tumbling… till it arrives at the edge of the precipice, from whence it rushes into the bason… the dark colour of the stone… sets off to wonderful advantage the sparkling lustre of the stream; and produces an uncommon effect of light… In every representation, truly picturesque, the shade should greatly overbalance the light’.

Gilpin first used the word ‘Picturesque’ ten years earlier in An Essay on Prints, defining it as ‘that kind of beauty which would look well in a picture.’ Gilpin set out to educate travellers to see ‘the face of a country by the rules of picturesque beauty’, not from any theory but ‘immediately from the scenes of nature as they arise.’ These rules encouraged visitors to see Nature through the eyes of an artist.

The Rydal Falls was also a favourite of William Wordsworth who lived in the nearby property, Rydal Mount. His nephew, Christopher Wordsworth, wrote: ‘He accompanied me to the gate and then said if I had a few minutes longer to spare, he would like to show me the waterfall which was close by…. The moment we opened the door the waterfall was before us. The summer house being so placed as to occupy the exact spot from which it was to be seen. The rocks and shrubbery around closing it in on every side. The effect was magical… Wordsworth seemed to have much pleasure in exhibiting this beautiful retreat.’

The south side of the house was refronted in the early 19th century with a symmetrical classical facade flanked by three-bay wings.

The formal gardens in front of the house were designed in 1909 by the landscape architect, Thomas Mawson (1861-1933) at the request of Stanley H Le Fleming. The terraces are bordered by stone balustrades with steps leading down to the different levels and connect the house with the natural landscape beyond.

The Hall was tenanted from 1940s and became a school during the Second World War. It was then converted into a hotel before being leased in 1963 to the Diocese of Carlisle as a Retreat House. The Diocese bought the property with 30 acres in 1970 and now offer visitors a range of accommodation.

The remaining estate is still owned by the Fleming family.