Pretty Petals

Ravensworth Castle

Team Valley · 6.2 miles

Ravensworth Castle stands as a ruinous Grade II* listed building and scheduled monument within the parish of Lamesley, Tyne and Wear, close to the Team Valley area. The remains, recognised by English Heritage, consist of fragmented walls and towers that mark the outline of a medieval stronghold, and the site is recorded on OpenStreetMap as a historic ruin. The earliest phase of the structure may have been a solar tower added to an existing manor house around 1315, with further towers incorporated throughout the fourteenth century. Ownership passed through families such as Fitz-Marmaduke, Viscount Lumley and Gascoigne before Thomas Liddell, a Newcastle-upon-Tyne merchant, bought the estate in 1607. The Liddell family retained the property for three centuries, deriving much of their wealth from coal mining that began in the early seventeenth century. In 1724 Sir Henry Liddell erected a substantial mansion within the castle’s curtilage; this building was demolished in 1808 and replaced by a Gothic-Revival house designed by John Nash. Notable guests included the Duke of Wellington, entertained there in October 1827, and Georgiana, Lady Bloomfield, who recorded a childhood visit in 1831. The house operated as a girls’ school during the 1920s, but mining beneath the site from about 1935 led to progressive demolition, leaving only three houses from a planned model village and leaving the majority of the structure in ruins by 1953. The ruins were designated a Grade II* listed building in 1967 and entered English Heritage’s Register of Buildings at Risk in 2002. Their profile was raised when the castle featured in the BBC television programme *Restoration* and the accompanying book of candidates. No visitor facilities or admission details are supplied, but the site remains accessible as an open historic ruin for those interested in the layered architectural and industrial legacy of the Liddell estate.

Washington Old Hall

Fatfield · 6.2 miles

The former manor that linked the Washington family to the first president of the United States now serves as a museum in the centre of Washington, Tyne and Wear, close to the village of Fatfield. The house originated in the late twelfth century when William de Hertburne, later known as William de Wessyngton, took tenancy of the Wessyngton lands from the Bishop of Durham. Through the early fifteenth century the property passed to the Mallory family when Sir William Mallory married Dionysia Tempest, the last Wessyngton heir. After the Mallorys sold the hall to the Bishop of Durham in 1613, it remained a residence until the nineteenth century, when it was divided into tenement flats and fell into disrepair. Declared unfit for habitation in 1936, the building was saved from demolition by local teacher Fred Hill, whose Friends of the Old Hall campaign prompted restoration work that began in 1937, paused during the Second World War and concluded in 1955. The American ambassador opened the restored hall, and the National Trust took over its care in 1957. In 2007 Washington, D.C., and the City of Sunderland formalised a friendship agreement recognising these historic links. Managed by the National Trust, the hall operates as a museum where visitors can explore the restored rooms and gardens that reflect its medieval and later phases. Admission carries a charge and wheelchair access is limited. The site provides basic visitor facilities and is reachable by road from the surrounding villages, with the nearest settlement identified as Fatfield.

Gibside

Lockhaugh · 6.8 miles

A Georgian landscaped park set in the Derwent valley on the Tyne and Wear–County Durham border offers a range of historic structures within a largely wooded estate. The grounds lie between Rowlands Gill and Burnopfield, close to the village of Lockhaugh, and are managed by the National Trust. Visitors can walk the avenue of oaks to the Palladian chapel designed by James Paine, explore the ruined shell of Gibside Hall – a Grade II* listed 17th-century house – and view the orangery built for Mary Eleanor Bowes in the early 1770s. The banqueting house, now in the care of the Landmark Trust, and other features such as a column of Liberty, a stable block and extensive forested areas remain part of the public landscape. The estate originated in the mid-13th century, passing to the Blakiston family in about 1540 and later to the Bowes family through the 1693 marriage of Elizabeth Blakiston and Sir William Bowes. Sir George Bowes expanded the park in the 18th century, employing designers Stephen Switzer and William Joyce, while later Bowes-Lyon owners added the chapel (1760-1812) and further landscaping. Throughout the 20th century the property was sold piecemeal; today the National Trust holds most of the land, preserving the historic ambience for visitors.

Derwent Park (Rowlands Gill)

Rowlands Gill · 6.8 miles

Derwent Park is situated in Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear, England. The park is often incorrectly called Rowlands Gill Park as a result. The park has a caravan site and has many play areas for children. Fishing on the River Derwent, which runs through the park, is priced at £2.50 per permit. The fish include brown trout, grayling and Atlantic salmon.

Hamsterley Hall

Hamsterley Mill · 6.8 miles

A castellated Gothic-Revival mansion set in the hamlet of Hamsterley, near Rowlands Gill in County Durham, stands as a notable example of an 18th-century English country house. Recorded on mapping services as a stately castle, the building is situated close to the village of Hamsterley Mill and carries a Grade II* listing, indicating its particular architectural and historic interest. The estate entered the Swinburne family in 1762 when Sir John Swinburne, Baronet, transferred it to his younger brother Henry. Henry Swinburne commissioned extensive works in 1769, reshaping the earlier house into the present two-storey, four-bay structure with a castellated roofline that defines its Gothic character. After Henry’s death in 1803, the property changed hands in 1806, being bought by Anthony Surtees. His son, the novelist Robert Smith Surtees, acquired the hall in 1838 and later served as High Sheriff of Durham in 1856. Following his death in 1864, the estate passed to his daughter Eleanor, who married John Gage Prendergast Vereker, the 5th Viscount Gort, in 1885. Their lineage continued at Hamsterley Hall, with John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, and later his brother Standish Vereker, 7th Viscount, residing there until the latter’s death in 1975.

Washington Wetland Centre

Cox Green · 7.5 miles

WWT Washington Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Washington, Tyne and Wear, North East England.