Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse in Sutton Bridge wins awards

An historic Sutton Bridge landmark, which has been transformed into a holiday let has won two awards celebrating hard work and excellence.

The Sir Peter Scott Lighthouse won gold in the Sykes Cottage Gem 2024 awards for best historic property and also scooped a bronze for best property in central England.

Owners Doug and Sue Hilton, who bought the Grade II* listed lighthouse in 2010, only started letting it out through Sykes Holiday Cottages last July and are delighted with the accolades.

Doug said: “It’s really nice to be acknowledged, especially as we’ve only been letting the lighthouse out since July 2023.

“It’s nice for the team and nice for the area. I thought we might get something in the central England category, but there were some serious contenders in the historic property category, such as castles and ancient manors, so to win gold in that was quite unexpected.”

Sykes Holiday Cottages looks after 21,000 holiday homes in the UK and invited owners to submit their properties for its annual awards, which were broken down into 31 categories including best quirky property, best for families and best farm stay.

These properties were judged throughout August by a judging panel including Graham Donoghue, CEO at Sykes Holiday Cottages, James Shaw, Sykes Holiday Cottages managing director and Sophie Swietochowdki, assistant travel editor at The Sun.

Each category had a shortlist of five from which gold, silver and bronze award winners were selected.

The lighthouse, one of two located on the entrance to the River Nene, was designed by architect John Rennie in 1830, to celebrate the final stages in the drainage of the fens and mark the entry to the sea.

From 1933 to 1939 it was home to conservationist Sir Peter Scott, and it was while here he came up with his ideas for global conservation.

The 60ft building has been renovated several times over the years and most recently the Hiltons reinstated the sketching window where Sir Peter would sit and draw the fenland landscape.

Doug added: “Wherever I go giving talks about the lighthouse and Sir Peter Scott, people have always heard of both, they might not know exactly where it is, but they have heard of it and his work. It really is something that the area can be very proud of, as am I.”

For more information and how to book a stay visit lighthouseholidays.uk