This former linen mill has been a youth hostel three times and continues to welcome outdoor enthusiasts and families exploring the North York Moors National Park, whether walking, cycling, or enjoying a holiday in the area.
Cote Ghyll Mill began life as a linen mill in the 1800s. Constructed by William Yeoman of Pateley Bridge, it produced flax—a strong linen used in aircraft fuselages and ships’ sails. The mill contributed massively to the industrial growth of Osmotherley. The linen industry dominated village life throughout the 19th century. Today, Osmotherley is a quaint Yorkshire village with a number of historic pubs and shops.
The flax mill closed in 1915. The building later became a private house with an outdoor swimming pool, and it also served briefly as a village hall, with some locals recalling attending events described as a “dance and a fight.”
In the 1930s, during the huge growth of hostels in the UK and Europe, the mill was converted into osmotherly youth hostel and thrived for ten years, accommodating, among others, the youth of the northern industrial towns as they escaped to the countryside to enjoy the wild landscape of the North York Moors. It closed in the 1940s, and forty years later, the Youth Hostels Association (YHA) took the building on. They renovated it with a new roof and windows, reopening it as YHA Osmotherley in 1980.
The YHA identified Osmotherley Youth Hostel for closure in 2013, but Jon and Helen Hill stepped in to save it by purchasing the building. From then on, it operated as YHA Osmotherly and Cote Ghyll Mill Hostel, a private youth hostel affiliated with the YHA. For 23 years, accommodating up to 61 people, it hosted countless school trips, walking and cycling groups, and families holidaying in the North York Moors National Park.
The Hill family carried out extensive improvements to the building, including adding en-suite bathrooms and restoring the exterior brickwork by carefully stripping away the old paint.
In 2026, Osmotherly Youth Hostel will undergo another renovation and finnally be know just as Cote Ghyll Mill again. Still owned by the Hill family, but no longer affiliated with the YHA, it will be transformed into a 14-room group accommodation and bed & breakfast venue. The property will provide comfortable private bedrooms that can be booked by individuals and families, and it will also be available as a self-catering venue for group hire.
With its prime location on the popular Coast to Coast and Cleveland Way Walks, and on the Coast to Coast Mountain bike route, the Mill continues to offer a great resource for outdoor enthuiststants with comfort garanteed. While also being the perfect venue for a family holiday, or a group get away.
Bookings will be available from March 2026.
