YORKSHIRE DAY COUNTDOWN: The story behind Number 1 Yorkshire - the county's very first house

It has perhaps the most iconic address in the county.
Number 1 Yorkshire in Bawtry.Number 1 Yorkshire in Bawtry.
Number 1 Yorkshire in Bawtry.

No. 1 Yorkshire is the first property you encounter as you cross the border on the old Great North Road from Nottinghamshire into Bawtry, the bustling market town south of Doncaster.

Built in 1740, the Grade-II listed, three-storey town house oozes character and charm.

The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
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For generations, the property has been home to a succession of doctors, lawyers and other professionals, who have all fallen in love with the red brick, Bawtry beauty.

In 2014, Greta Arnott, a doctor of ancient languages, and her husband Struther, a professor of science, put the house up for sale.

Greta and Struther lived at No. 1 Yorkshire for 12 years and used it as a haven for reading, gardening and hosting visits from their four grown-up children and their grandchildren.

“It was absolutely chance that we ended up here, ” Greta explained in an interview in 2014.

The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
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“We were looking for a house - we’d been down as far as St Ives - and then I happened to look in the Financial Times. There was a property section with this house featured and we came to see it.”

Having previously lived in London, Scotland and the USA, the Arnotts had little knowledge of Bawtry and Doncaster.

“As far as I knew it was a very sad area in that all the industry had gone and there was a great deal of poverty, ” said Greta.

“But when we came to Bawtry it wasn’t fitting that description. We have diamond shops, high end eateries and up-market clothing stores.”

The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
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As soon as Greta and Struther stepped into the property, in South Parade, they knew it was the right one for them.

“You just look out at trees which is amazing, ” said Greta.

“The house is terribly quiet - it’s such a paradox given it’s right next to the road.”

There are four reception rooms on the ground floor - three with open fires and a dining room/snug with a four-oven Aga. All four are among the countless parts of the house and garden ideal for curling up with a good book. And as each room has a different aspect, you can follow the sunshine around the house all day.

The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.
The spacious garden at the rear of Number 1 Yorkshire.

“We are great readers and to have a lovely setting in which to read and then to walk out into the garden and perhaps do a little bit of gardening, it’s a relaxation," she said.

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The garden - with a charming summer house, patio area, log store, and water lily-filled pond - is overlooked by the large windows of the bright and spacious kitchen.

There are two bedrooms each on the first and second floors. The master bedroom on the first floor has a dressing room which looks out over Scrooby Church.

When the couple put the property up for sale, the house was littered with constant reminders of the Georgian home’s history. Hay racks on the back wall of the garage and frosted windows in a downstairs reception room hinted at its past life as a doctor’s surgery. And a push button bell on the wall in the opposite reception room could be a relic of a lawyer’s waiting room.

Back in 2014 she added: “I’m rather spoiled having lived in London and there’s No. 1 London of course, which is the Duke of Wellington’s house, and this is not quite in the same league as that, ” says Greta.

“But it’s quite a nice idea that it’s the first house in Yorkshire north of Nottingham."

The house was bought for £600,000 in October last year by an un-named and unknown buyer.