Biddick Hall (house)
| Biddick Hall | |
| County Durham | |
|---|---|
 Biddick Hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NZ31465279 |
| Location: | 54°52’8"N, 1°30’41"W |
| History | |
| Built 18th century | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Earl of Durham |
Biddick Hall is a small 18th-century country mansion at Bournmoor, County Durham, which is the home of the Earl of Durham. The estate has been in his family, the Lambton family, since the later Elizabethan period.
The house is to be found between Sunderland and Chester-le-Street. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
The Lambtons purchased the manor house and estate at South Biddick then comprising about 450 acres, from the Bowes family in about 1594.
In the early 18th century the old manor was replaced with the present red brick and stone, two-storeyed, five-bay mansion in a Queen Anne Baroque style. The central entrance bay has Ionic order pilasters carrying entablature and pediment.
In about 1820, John George Lambton built Lambton Castle to the west on the adjoining Harraton Hall estate. He was created Baron Lambton in 1828 and Earl of Durham in 1833.
The Hall was extended by the creation of a fifth but blind bay in 1859 and the addition of a north wing in 1954.
Following the family's move to Lambton Castle, Biddick was occupied by junior members of the family or was let out. One of the tenants was Frank Stobart, Agent to the Earl, and Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Durham in 1906.
In 1932, the Castle being uninhabitable, the family once more made Biddick their home. It was remodelled by Trenwith Wills and Lord Gerald Wellesley.[1]
On film and television
- The Paradise (BBC drama, filmed in September 2012)
- Estranged (2015): a filming location. Shots of the exterior of Biddick Hall are frequently used throughout the film.[2]
Outside links
- Biddick Hall
- National Heritage List 1120989: Biddick Hall
References
- ↑ Dan Cruickshank (Summer 2012). "Wills and Wellesley". National Trust Magazine (National Trust): 38.
- ↑ Estranged at the Internet Movie Database
- National Heritage List 1120989: Biddick Hall
- McKenzie and Ross: 'An Historic Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Durham', Vol 1 (1834) page 361
