SPICE Girl Mel C brought a slice of pop royalty to Cumbria on Saturday, marrying Australian model and screenwriter Chris Dingwall at a converted Georgian manor in Castle Carrock.
The 52-year-old singer, born Melanie Chisholm, chose The Country House Cumbria for her big day — a six-bedroom estate tucked into the foothills of the North Pennines.
The property itself has a Cumbrian rags-to-riches story of its own.
The 1862 Georgian house stood empty and riddled with dry rot for 12 years before West End actor Ben Forster and his partner, property developer Paul Longman, bought it and spent two years restoring it.
The renovation, chronicled on the couple’s Instagram account The Country House Diaries and once featured on Channel 4’s Renovation Nation, transformed the “wreck” into a colourful luxury retreat now available as a holiday let, complete with original Georgian features and contemporary interiors.
Forster’s friendship with Mel C dates back to 2013, when the pair starred together in Jesus Christ Superstar, and it was this bond that reportedly brought the Spice Girl to Cumbria for her wedding.
The estate has already built a reputation among celebrities as a discreet countryside escape, having previously hosted guests including Cheryl Tweedy and Emma Bunton
The wedding brought an unusual moment of global attention for Castle Carrock.
The village lies on the western edge of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, surrounded by waterfalls, rivers and open fell country — the kind of secluded, unspoilt setting Mel C is said to have specifically sought out.
Sources close to the couple say the pair deliberately avoided a “big flashy day,” instead opting for an intimate ceremony among close friends and family.
Fellow Spice Girls Geri Horner, Mel B and Emma Bunton were pictured arriving at the Cumbrian estate, with Horner accompanied by husband and former Red Bull Racing F1 boss Christian Horner.
(Image: Fiona Hanson/PA Wire)
Victoria Beckham could not attend in person, held up by World Cup commitments abroad, but reportedly designed Mel C’s backless white gown as her contribution to the day.
The wedding adds The Country House Cumbria to a growing list of North Pennines and Lake District-fringe venues drawing high-profile bookings, reinforcing the region’s pull as a discreet alternative to more conventional celebrity wedding destinations.