The Lake Isle as we see it today, has a relatively short history in terms of being a Restaurant and Hotel in Uppingham. Its name is taken from the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree by W B Yeats where sentiments of peace, relaxation and tranquillity are expressed and can be found in the Hotel.

Early beginnings

The Grade II listed building at 16 High Street East, Uppingham is considerably older and in its present form was built sometime between 1773 and 1780. The original core and oldest part is the present bar and the cellar beneath. The cellar and foundations also show evidence of reused stone and beams dating back to 1650.

The first recorded mention of 16 High Street East was in 1656 when it was part of an ancient messuage (dwelling house with outbuildings and land) owned by James Smith. It embraced the properties known as 16, 18, 20 and 22 High Street East, together with 1 and 2 Reeves Yard and 25 South View. Some of the original boundaries and outbuildings of this ancient messuage can still be seen today, with the garden wall on one side of Reeves Yard and the old stables on the other.

At the heart of Uppingham

Reeves Yard is the original centre of Uppingham, dating back even further to the 12th and 13th centuries. Before the roads that we see today were built, Reeves Yard lay on the original route through Uppingham. Starting from the North, this is the ancient pathway that passes in the front of Tod's Terrace, enters the back yard of the Crown Public House, through Crown Passage, across High Street East, down Reeves Yard and onto the footpath to Lyddington.

After the death of James Smith in 1735, the ancient messuage went through various forms of ownership, either by way of marriage or inheritance. The one significant event during this time was John Munton, the then owner, who in-filled the buildings in Reeves Yard onto the main street and produced the three storey building as seen today on High Street East. He traded in the supply of coal and may have overreached himself in building the Lake Isle. In 1780, he was declared bankrupt owing the princely sum of £100. One year later, the ancient messuage was divided up and number 16 was sold to Edward Southam, a local ironmonger who continued the tradition, as with previous owners, of conducting his business from the buildings in Reeves Yard and renting out the grander building to the gentry. A notable tenant around this time was the Reverend John Parker, Curate of Uppingham Church and also Sub-warden of Uppingham School.

Extending the premises

For the next 27 years, 16 High Street East remained in the Southern family until, in 1808, there was a change of ownership and trade. Edward Kemp and his wife Elizabeth bought the property for £420 and, until 1879, carried on with a drapers business. Two notable events stand out during this period. Firstly, in 1815, Edward Kemp was fined 7s/6d for installing a bow window measuring 16 foot across the frontage. Bow windows were the fashion of the day and Edward, along with three others in the town, encroached on the Lords Land without permission. This illegal bow window was to last 85 years until replaced at the turn of the century. The second event happened in 1837 when a second and third storey, in brick, was built above the buildings in Reeves Yard. Incorporated into the new section were the unique tall windows running from the first to the second floors. It is widely thought these were to permit more light into the sewing rooms. Howard Chandler was another notable tenant during this period, using the grander room overlooking the High Street. He was the mathematicians master at Uppingham School between 1860 and 1866.

Changing nature of the business

When Elizabeth Kemp died in her 94th year, the trade at 16 High Street East changed again from drapery to hairdressing. Firstly to George Townshend, who in 1879 paid £1,200 for the property and then Alfred Steward in 1904 who with his family carried on until 1972. A significant change now was the shop front, opening up onto the High Street. For almost a century, the Steward family sold such items as glass and china in the shop, whilst the hairdressing business was accessed via Reeves Yard. The Stewards operated a barber shop in what is now the present bar and named it Sweeney Todd. Upstairs, on the first floor was the ladies hairdressing salon, occupying what is now Rooms 1 and 2. As the advertisement shows for 1924, wig making for men and especially for women formed a significant part of the business.

The Lake Isle was born

The 1970's saw further separation of 16 High Street East, with the front of the building now a bakers, sold for £22,000 with extensive living accommodation above. The hairdressing salons were also on the market and sold separately for £5,000. Then in 1978 the entire property was purchased by the partnership of Roy Richards and Christopher Barrett. Thus, The Lake Isle came into being as a restaurant, another radical change in the trade of the property.

In 1982, David and Claire Whitfield, purchased the Lake Isle Restaurant and commenced a programme of development that continues today. Accommodation was added when the first of the hotel bedrooms was completed in 1984. The cottages from the original ancient messuage, 1 & 2 Reeves Yard were purchased and now form part of the hotel accommodation. Further bedrooms were added and a resident's lounge overlooks the High Street, where Parker and Chandler once resided.

The current owners, Richard and Janine Burton, who purchased the Lake Isle in 2001 have continued the development of the hotel in Uppingham, Rutland. The restaurant and bar area have been completely refurbished and all the bedrooms in the hotel brought up to 21st century living. Whirlpool baths and king size beds are features that still complement that famous poem, The Lake Isle of Innisfree.