By Ruth Addicot

‘I ALWAYS call this place a blessing and a curse,” says Lady Halina Graham, referring to the late medieval manor house, Norton Conyers, in North Yorkshire.

When Lady Graham and Sir James – whose family has owned Norton Conyers since 1624 – first moved into the house in 1996, it had a leaky roof and no heating. The Grade II listed property, which inspired the Charlotte Bronte classic Jane Eyre, has now undergone £200,000 restoration and won the 2014 Restoration Award by The Historic Houses Association and Sothebys. The time and effort that has gone into it has been immense and it will reopen to the public next July.

The improvements include repairs to the battlements around the roof, the library, lawn, rookery, broad oak staircase, the high square hall covered in family portraits, and perhaps most importantly, a hidden staircase leading to the third storey attic.

Although the Grahams had been aware of a staircase and had been knocking on the panelling for years, it wasn’t until 2004 when they cleared some space for a film crew, that Sir James noticed the floorboards in one corner looked slightly different. Underneath they discovered a musty narrow staircase leading to the room at the far end of the attic which inspired Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte visited the house in 1839 and was so intrigued by the legend of a “mad woman” locked in the attic, it inspired her to create the character of Bertha, wife of Mr Rochester.

A secret door has now been built into the 19th Century panelling which visitors can open to look up the stairs. With just a small shaft of light from a window right at the top, it’s both intriguing and eerie.

The room – known as “Mad Mary’s room” – is in a remote dark corner of the attics and can only be accessed by walking over an uneven roof. For this reason only booked parties will be allowed in. When I visit, Sir James leads the way with a hand-held searchlight.

Tip-toeing through the dust with thick cobwebs hanging overhead and flies buzzing around an old window in the roof desperate to get out, there’s a sense of foreboding and I jump as a door blows open unexpectedly on my left. Although Lady Graham has had the room exorcised several times, Sir James is a staunch sceptic and more worried about getting dust on his three-piece suit than any paranormal presence.

Apart from a chair, tin bath and Regency window – which wouldn’t have existed in the 18th Century – the room is completely bare. “I feel there was a lot of unhappiness there,” says Lady Graham. “We don’t know who the mad woman was. We don’t know if she was really mad or had an illegitimate child or post-natal depression. So, for me, it has a very sad feeling. Some people don’t like going in there. It depends on the person.”

The repair work to the house has been going on since the Grahams moved in nearly 20 years ago. The lead roof was like a pin cushion with thousands of little holes. There were endless buckets in the attic and absolutely everything needed doing,” recalls Lady Graham.

Just as they thought they had got on top of it, in 2005, they discovered an infestation of death watch beetle which did extensive damage in the hall, the attics and even got into a very large late Medieval table. All the floorboards had to be taken up in the hallway, the dining room, parlour and library. and upstairs all the beams and floors had to be treated.

Sir James, in an attempt to assess the damage, spent a year doing a census, collecting the carcass of every death watch beetle he could find and putting them in jars with the measurements, date and location written on the side. “He measured each one to find out whether they were fat or thin because he wanted to know how well nourished they were and then he drew it all on a graph,” says Lady Graham. “I spent the year cleaning every single beam in the attic, which I can tell you was a mammoth job. We now have the best collection of death watch beetle carcasses in Yorkshire.”

With so much history – recent discoveries suggest the building dates back to Viking times – and so many noteworthy visitors over the years – Charles I in 1633 and James II in 1679, to name just two – it was vital to preserve as much as they could.

The library has also been restored and furnished to resemble Mr Rochester’s study. Other discoveries included Tudor painted boards hidden behind 18th Century plaster, 1870s Morris wallpaper and 1760s wallpaper. The removal of 20th Century panelling also revealed a medieval door post.

As impressive as the house may look to visitors, Lady Graham says the reality of living at Norton Conyers is far from luxury. With a Victorian water system, hot water is limited. Most of their belongings are in boxes and they’ve had to move bedrooms ten times while the work has been taking place.

“There is no easy way to make it homely,” says Lady Graham. “We spend most of the time in the kitchen next to the Aga. We have hot water, but you have to go up about 25 steps and along corridors and things to have a bath. It’s almost like camping.” As for Sir James, asked what he enjoys most about the house, he doesn’t hesitate. “It is the sense of being guardians of the past,” he says, before turning on his heel and taking his collection of death watch beetle carcasses back inside.

With such a romantic backdrop, Norton Conyers remains one of the most sought-after settings for a wedding reception in North Yorkshire. The 18th Century walled garden is reminiscent of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and features a beautiful Orangery, hung with roses as well as an ornamental pond and fountain.

“It is full of beautiful and unusual plants and has a magic atmosphere,” says Lady Graham. “The garden has been there for more than 200 years and has been loved and maintained for such a long time, it always has a special atmosphere.”

Norton Conyers, Wath, near Ripon. Tel: 0113-284-3500; weddings@nortonconyers.co.uk