Swinton Estate: Castle, Cottage and Glamping Stays with a Wild Swimming Lake
Stay anywhere on the Swinton Estate at Masham and the wild swimming lake comes with it. The lake sits in the grounds of Swinton Park Hotel with a purpose-built swimming platform, and it is complimentary for residents rather than a day ticket you drive to.
The stay
Three ways to stay on the same 20,000-acre estate. Swinton Park Hotel is a Grade II* castle in 200 acres of listed 18th-century parkland and gardens, with five lakes, a deer park and follies laid out by the Danby family in the 1760s. A range of self-catering country houses and cottages sit close to the hotel. Swinton Bivouac, on the edge of the estate’s moorland, is the off-grid option, with rustic lodges and yurts. Dogs are welcome across most of the accommodation. Guests at the hotel and cottages also get a run of complimentary daily activities — fly-casting, bread making, cocktail making and birds of prey among them.
Swimming on site
The estate’s wild swimming lake, Coffin Lake, is in the grounds of Swinton Park Hotel. It has a purpose-built swimming platform with a ladder into the water, a changing area, and a fringe of trees and lily pads. In the estate’s own words: “If you’re already spending time with us as a Swinton Country Club day guest, or staying at Swinton Park Hotel, in one of our cottages, or at Swinton Bivouac, wild swimming is one of our complimentary activities.”
It is available all year between 7am or sunrise, whichever is later, and 9pm or sunset, whichever is earlier, and you pre-book a one-hour time slot with Swinton Country Club reception. The rules are not decorative. Swimmers must be over 12 and under-16s must be accompanied by an adult. Coffin Lake is not monitored by the estate: there is no safety cover and no one checking that swimmers return to their entry point, so swimming alone is a breach of the rules unless you have appointed a companion to watch you from the shore. Tow floats are provided if you need one; bring your own towel. Day visitors buy a parkland and gardens pass at £10 a day or £75 a year per person.
Worth knowing
Check the lake is open before you book a stay around it.Check availability in the peak summer months, as the lake may close if water levels are low.
The parkland walking routes take in Coffin Lake, Dales View, Quarry Gill and Top Lake with its standing stones and island; the shortest loop, around Coffin Pond, takes about half an hour. Home Lake, the serpentine water in front of the castle, is where fly-casting lessons happen rather than swims. Our page on the swim itself is Swinton Estate Wild Swimming Lake (Coffin Lake).
Bookings and full details: swintonestate.com.
The wild swimming lake in the grounds of Swinton Park. Photo: Swinton Estate.