An eyewitness to the Scalesceugh Hall fire drama described it as “desperately sad” to see the historic building engulfed in flames.

Andrew Buck, who has lived at Scalesceugh Gardens, right next to Scalesceugh Hall for more than 15 years, said the hall was a “beautiful” example of Edwardian architecture.

“It’s desperately sad. It was a beautiful old building,” Andrew said.

Andrew described how he was alerted to the unfolding fire by a neighbour banging on his door in the middle of the night.

“One of our neighbours came and knocked on our door at about midnight, and said there’s a fire in Scalesceugh Hall,” he said.

“What they should have said is Scalesceugh Hall is on fire.”

He recounted how firefighters soon swarmed onto the scene, immediately setting about trying to contain the inferno to stop it spreading.

“It became a matter of preventing the spreading behind,” he said.

“There’s a slight gap between the old hall and the new houses, but it isn’t large. It could have easily spread.”

Thankfully, swift action from firefighters meant the blaze failed to spread beyond the hall itself.

Prior to being bought by current owners Bruno and Dr Anita Herdeiro, Scalesceugh Hall was a residential home run by the Cumbria Cerebral Palsy charity, but had been unoccupied for some time before being bought by the couple.

“It was on the market for quite a number of years,” Andrew said.