Wynyard Park, County Durham

Wynyard Park, sometimes known as Wynyard Hall is a large English country house in County Durham. The house was the English family seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, an Anglo-Irish aristocratic dynasty, until it was sold in the 1980s.

Wynyard Park
Wynyard Park, circa 1880
Location in County Durham
General information
LocationCounty Durham, England, UK
Coordinates54.6252°N 1.3503°W / 54.6252; -1.3503
OS gridNZ425255
OwnerSir John Hall

The house

Designed by Philip Wyatt and built 1822-28, the entrance front has 13 bays with a 6-column giant Corinthian portico. The entrance hall resembles that of Mount Stewart, the family's estate in Northern Ireland. It has a coffered segmental tunnel vault with apses at both ends and in the middle. There was a large crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling. The main octagonal centre hall extends the full height of the house and has a dome with caryatids around it and a skylight. There is also a mirrored drawing room with a gilded and painted ceiling, and a vast ballroom similar to that of the family's London residence, Londonderry House.

The family wing of the mansion was nicknamed the Duke's Wing as it was named after the Duke of Wellington and his visit. This side of the house also held the Duke's Gallery, where the family housed their famed art collection when not in London.

Gardens

Many statues adorn the grand entrance court outside the house/hotel and a wide path leading to an obelisk. This, 127 feet (39 m) high, commemorates the arranged visit of the national hero the Duke of Wellington, who also served as Prime Minister, to the house and the area in 1827.

At its height in the 19th century, the Wynyard Estate occupied 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) (28 km²) in Teesside.

The grounds today include a 15-acre (61,000 m2) ornamental lake, a walled garden, two entrance lodges, three cottages, a former racing yard, and productive farmland.

Brief history

The mansion was started by Benjamin Wyatt and completed by Philip Wyatt for Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, a famous coal magnate and founder of Seaham Harbour. The Marquess spent £130,000 (equivalent to £11,824,000 in 2019) to build and furnish the House. In 1841, just as the mansion was being completed, a fire broke out and gutted the house; it was later restored and remodelled by Ignatius Bonomi.

There had been a house on the site since the Middle Ages, and the 3rd Marquess incorporated parts of an earlier 18th century building into his house.

In the 19th century, George Vane-Tempest, who became Earl Vane in 1854 and the 5th Marquess of Londonderry in 1872, owned vast estates: 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) in Ireland and 23,000 acres (9,300 ha) in England and Wales; he also sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for 26 years.

Upon the death of the 5th Marquess in 1884 his eldest son, Charles, became the 6th Marquess; it was the 6th Marquess's wife, Lady Londonderry, who was the model for the famous Lady Roehampton in Vita Sackville-West's The Edwardians.

The estate remained in the Londonderry family until 1987,[1] though it was let as a training school for teachers from 1945 until 1960, during which time it lost most of its original contents through sales and breakages.

The estate was sold in 1987 to Sir John Hall, along with 5,000 acres (2,000 ha). Hall spent £4,000,000 to restore the house, hiring Rupert Lord to oversee the restoration; he later moved his company headquarters, as well as his home, into the mansion. The estate, comprising the house and 780 acres (320 ha) of parkland, was listed for sale in July 2002 for £8,000,000, but was never sold. It is now a four-star hotel owned by the Hall family and, while much of the estate has been given over to residential and light industrial development, the parkland around the house has been preserved. The original walled garden has also been restored as a tourist attraction and hospitality venue.[2]

Royal visits

King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (as Prince and Princess of Wales before 1901) were frequent visitors to Wynyard. As King, Edward presided over a meeting of the Privy Council there in 1903 — the first time the Council had met in a house belonging to a subject since 1625.[3]

King George V also visited as Prince of Wales, including in November 1902.[4]

Developments at Wynyard

There are three areas of housing development - approximately 800 properties in all - within the former Wynyard Estate: Wynyard Village, Wynyard Woods and Wynyard Park. Wynyard Estate's residents include Duncan Bannatyne,[5] and many famous footballers including Andrew Davies, Nick Loughran, Malcolm Christie and Steve Baker. Former residents include Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer.[6]

Wynyard Estate has some of the most expensive houses in the North East, as well as the most expensive road in Teesside.[7]

Wynyard Park is home to several gated communities, the main one being the Manorside development, a collection of 27 self built executive homes.[8]

There is a golf club on Wellington Drive.[9]

Land north of the A689 has been acquired by Chris Musgrave, a Hartlepool businessman. For a time Wynyard Park was used on a commercial basis by Samsung. Plans to build an eco-friendly housing and parkland have been approved by the local council. They include 2000 houses, a 3-star hotel, and a 5-star business hotel. A plan to build a £464 million hospital on the site has been abandoned.[10][11]

In June 2019 a major redevelopment of Wynyard golf club was granted permission, the redevelopment includes a 150 bed luxury hotel and a sporting academy.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Sale of the century as aristocrats auction heirlooms". Daily Telegraph.
  2. Hodgson, Barbara (4 August 2015). "Sir John Hall reveals his blooming lovely £1.6m garden at Wynyard Hall". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  3. Sir Almeric Fitzroy, Memoirs (London and New York, 1925), vol. I, p. 161.
  4. "Court Circular". The Times (36915). London. 3 November 1902. p. 6.
  5. "It is great to be alive This is Wynyard Park on Twitpic". Twitpic.com. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  6. Chris Arnot (30 January 2002). "Laager toffs | Society". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  7. Morgan, Paula (9 February 2019). "Teesside's most expensive streets to buy a home". Teesside Live. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  8. Morgan, Paula (5 July 2016). "Best way to find Teesside's most luxurious home? Build it". Teesside Live. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  9. Wynyardgolfclub.co.uk
  10. "Green dream becoming reality at Wynyard Park – Wynyard Park". Wynyardpark.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  11. "BBC - Where next for the scrapped £460m Wynyard hospital?". BBC News. 18 June 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  12. Morgan, Paula (6 June 2019). "huge golf resort and hotel gets the green light from planners". Teesside Live. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
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