Windlestone Hall

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Windlestone Hall
Windlestone Hall (1).jpg
Windlestone Hall, before 1910
Durham UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in County Durham
General information
Location County Durham, England, UK
Coordinates 54°39′11″N1°35′35″W / 54.653°N 1.593°W / 54.653; -1.593
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated9 January 1968
Reference no. 1160327
Designated27 November 1998
Reference no. 1001407
OS grid NZ263287

Windlestone Hall is a mid-16th century Elizabethan country house, heavily rebuilt in 1821 to form a Greek revival stately home, situated near Rushyford, County Durham, England. The Hall sits within 400 acres of designed parkland. It is a Grade II* Listed building. [1] As of 2022 it is back in private family ownership, with the surrounding estate maintained and conserved by a dedicated heritage charitable trust.

Contents

History

Early history

The Eden family who held the manor of Windlestone in the 17th century were Royalists during the English Civil War, and Colonel Robert Eden who had served in the King's army, was obliged to campaign for the return of his confiscated estate. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, his grandson, also Robert Eden, was created a baronet in 1672, (see Eden baronets). [2]

Construction

In 1821, the fifth Baronet, Robert Johnson Eden, replaced the 16th-century manor house with a new mansion designed by architect Ignatius Bonomi. The two-storey house presents a twelve-bay balustraded frontage to the east. A balustraded Doric order colonnade extends across nine bays of the ground floor. The north ends in a large apse. A billiard room was attached to the north east in the late-19th century. [1]

People associated with the house

On the death of the fifth Baronet in 1844, the estate and Baronetcy passed to his first cousin once removed, Sir William Eden, who was already the fourth Eden of Maryland Baronet. [2] He was High Sheriff of Durham in 1848.

The house was the birthplace in 1897 of Anthony Eden, the younger son of the sixth baronet; Eden entered parliament as a Conservative Party Member of Parliament in 1923, later serving as a cabinet minister before serving as Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957. [3] Eden's brother Timothy inherited the baronetcies and the estate on the death of their father in 1915, and sold the Hall (along with 4,500 acres, a London property at Hyde Park Gardens and the village of Rushyford) in 1936 to John Todd of Northallerton. [4] By that time, the Hall had been leased for three years to the Wayfarers' Benevolent Fund, a charity helping to train young homeless people. The lease still had seven years remaining at the time of the sale. [4]

Later history

The house and estate were used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II, [5] a satellite camp of Harperley POW Camp 93.[ citation needed ] Durham County Council acquired the Hall around 1954 [6] and, between 1957 and 2006, it was occupied by Windlestone Hall School, a local authority residential special school. The school closed in 2006, and was sold for £240,000 by Durham County Council to William Davenport in 2011. [5] Durham County Council was criticised for the sale, especially when Windlestone Hall was put back on the market three years later for £2,500,000 – over ten times the previous sale price. [7] Davenport was jailed for 6 years in 2016 for using forged documents to acquire a mortgage when purchasing the house and estate, [8] and the property was repossessed by the bank. [5]

Windlestone Hall was listed for auction with an entry guide price of £400,000 in July 2017. On 17 July 2017 it was removed from the auction and marked as "sold prior to auction" to an, as yet, unknown buyer. [9] The BBC later reported that the Hall had been purchased by Carlauren, a property developer, for £850,000; it intended to turn the Hall into a high-end care home and attracted £8.5m in investment through the sale of 53 residential units which investors would lease to care-home residents. The BBC reported in October 2019, however, that the property was "still derelict" and not operating as a care home.

Phased construction of the 1821 Hall

The 1821 reconstruction of the 1650s Elizabethan Hall was carried out in 4 main phases, likely around the demolition of parts of the 1560s mansion. The picture below shows the 4 key phases:

Chronology

Evolution and chronology of the Windlestone Park Estate
1197Windlestone village referred to (Windlesden)
1448Reference to a village settlement when Cecilia, wife of John Windliston

deceased, confirmed to her son and heir his half heritage which included, 2 messuages, 5 oxgangs and 12 acres of land, 3 of meadow in the village of Wyndlistone

1538Some of the Windlestone lands were purchased by John Eden
1576Christopher Saxton's map shows a settlement at Windlestone
1635After the Dissolution Neasham Abbey land at Windlestone was acquired by

John Eden of Windlestone

1681Durham Freehold Book includes ‘Sir Robert Eden, Bart at West Auckland and

Sir Timothy Eden, Bart JP lord of the Manor of Windlestone

1730No 3 South Bailey (Grade II*. List Entry Number 1161313), Durham City

(Grade II*)built as Sir Robert Eden's town house.

1768Andrew Armstrong The County Palatine of Durham shows enclosed park at

Windleston, buildings lining road between Rushyford and Crawlaw. A689 not on line of this road. Road shown leading south to Woodham, possible remains of medieval village.

1800The medieval settlement was removed, earlier hall demolished, roads rerouted
c19Early c19th estate amounted to 4000 acres and 20 farms
1801Jones & Smith Map of County Durham depicts enclosed parkland
1817Windlestone clock set up on New Year’s Day by John Bolton of Durham
1820Greenwood map of County Durham. Extensive parkland depicted to south

and west of hall with rides and meandering route to the hall from the south. Serpentine lake shown in south park

1821Windlestone Hall built by Ignatius Bonomi (1787 - 1870). Durham Advertiser,

June 1821 recorded laying of foundation stone (Brigantiap.9)

1830Windlestone township. No separate tithe apportionment or plan (no tithes

payable, due to either earlier commutation or imminent merger) DUL Tithe Records

1848North Lodge built
1896Ordnance Survey shows South Lodge
1897Sir Anthony Eden (1897 - 1977) born at Windlestone
1920The hall became the Wayfarers Benevolent Association Headquarters
1936Eden family sold the mansion and estate

Preservation

Having been exposed to the elements since the major roof metal (lead) theft of 2017, the building is now considered to be beyond economical repair - costing more to repair than its completed value.

In November 2019 Durham County Council secured the property and gave notice for no access due to safety. The interior was deteriorating rapidly although it seems work had been started by someone, as yet unknown, to secure the exterior from further damage and deterioration.

In July 2020 the Hall and Estate were purchased by a dedicated preservation trust, a registered UK charity, with the sole aim of protecting, restoring and preserving the heritage assets. The Trust have ambitious plans for complete restoration of Windlestone Hall to its former glory as a significant private residence, reinstatement of the walled gardens and grounds, returning the designed landscape and reinstating a working and viable country estate with significant access for the public.

On 5 July 2021 Durham County Council's County Planning Committee met [10] to consider both FPA (Full Planning Application) and LBC (Listed Building Consent) applications made by the Windlestone Park Estate Preservation Trust. The meeting was the first to be held in person at County Hall, Durham, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the meeting was streamed live to the public. Both applications were unanimously approved by Durham County Council and paved the way for the complete restoration of the Windlestone Park Estate. The planning application [11] contains:

Urgent repairs and conservation work had already been underway since the Windlestone Park Estate Preservation Trust purchased the site in July 2020, but the grant of planning permission will see an immediate start to the major works at the site.

The Clocktower

The Clocktower and surrounding c-plan stables pre-date the major rebuilding of the main hall, with the estate archives showing that the clock mechanism was commissioned and set to work in 1817. The Clocktower is Grade II* listed in its own right, and has a striking resemblance to that at Wallington Hall, Northumberland.

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References

  1. 1 2 English Heritage: Images of England, photograph and architectural description [ permanent dead link ]
  2. 1 2 The Baronetage of England Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of all the Baronets now existing, Edward Kimber and Richard Johnson, Vol 2 (1771) pp. 368-70
  3. ↑ "Sir Anthony Eden". Archived from the original on 16 November 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Windlestone Hall sold", Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette , 15 July 1936, p. 2.
  5. 1 2 3 "Windlestone Hall still derelict despite millions invested", BBC News , 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  6. ↑ "Damage to Eden family mausoleum", Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer , 15 November 1954, p. 3.
  7. ↑ "Windlestone Hall up for £2.5m after Durham County Council sale". 4 November 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "William Davenport jailed for Windlestone Hall mortgage fraud". 28 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Stuart Arnold, "Windlestone Hall, near Rushyford, County Durham, is withdrawn from auction after being sold to mystery buyer", The Northern Echo , 19 July 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  10. ↑ Durham County Council, webadmin@durham gov uk (17 August 2010). "Local MPs and MEPs - information and advice". Durham County Council. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  11. ↑ Durham County Council, webadmin@durham gov uk. "DM/20/03496/FPA | Comprehensive restoration of Windlestone Hall into a principal private residence with 2no. internal staff apartments. Restoration of the Hall gardens, walled garden with public access and erection of new build 'Gardener's Cottage'. Restoration of the 'Old Stables' and conversion to staff accommodation and low-carbon estate energy centre. Comprehensive restoration of the 'Clocktower'. Restoration of the 'Clocktower Stables' and conversion to mixed-use commercial (small office, café/coffee shop, small retail units) including courtyard. Erection of 'orangery' events space to walled garden. Extension to billiard room to main hall to facilitate events space. Enabling development consisting of 13no. 4 and 5 bed-detached dwellings at 2no. Locations north of the Hall; conversion of former staff service wing of Hall to 4no. Private apartments; and residents wellness centre within Hall. Reinstatement of the estate chapel and ilex avenue east of main access road. Erection of Earl Avon Statue. Restoration of 'North Lodge' and use as estate office and car park. Reinstatement of a lake and island to north east of Hall. Repurposing of former basketball court as estate car park. (Amended Description and Plans 15th Feb 2021). | Windlestone Hall Windlestone Park Windlestone Ferryhill DL17 0LX". Durham County Council. Retrieved 5 July 2021.

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