Wallington is a

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

and gardens located about west of Morpeth,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England, near the village of Cambo. It has been owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

since 1942, after it was donated complete with the estate and farms by Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, the first donation of its kind. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The estate was owned by the Fenwick family from 1475 until Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet had financial problems and opted to sell his properties to the Blacketts in 1688. He sold the rump of the family estates and Wallington Hall to Sir William Blackett for £4000 and an annuity of £2000 a year. The annuity was to be paid for his lifetime and that of his wife, Mary Fenwick. Blackett was happy with the deal as he discovered lead on the land and he became rich. The

hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples w ...

was rebuilt, demolishing the ancient pele tower, although the cellars of the early medieval house remain. The house was substantially rebuilt again, in Palladian style, for Sir Walter Blackett by architect Daniel Garret, before passing to the Trevelyan family in 1777. After Pauline Jermyn married the naturalist Sir

Walter Calverley Trevelyan Sir Walter Calverley Trevelyan FGS FRSE (31 March 1797 – 23 March 1879) was an English naturalist and geologist. Life He was born in 1797 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the eldest son of Sir John Trevelyan, fifth baronet, of Nettlecombe, Somerset, ...

, they began hosting literary and scientific figures at the Hall. As a cultural centre, Wallington visitors included the members of the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jame ...

Elsa and Mary Bell (The late Lady Trevelyan), 1899 by Lady Caroline Grosvenor

Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan inherited the property from his father, Sir George Otto Trevelyan, in 1928. He was a leading member of Liberal and Labour governments. Charles was married to "Molly", Lady Mary Trevelyan.

Description

Set in 100 acres (40 ha) of rolling parkland, the estate includes a wooded dene (valley), ornamental lakes, lawns, and a recently refurbished walled garden. Alongside the beautifully furnished interior, attractions inside the house include the desk where

Thomas Babington Macaulay Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...

, brother-in-law of Sir Charles Trevelyan, wrote his ''

History of England England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...

'', a large collection of antique dollshouses, and eight

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

s in the central hall depicting the history of

, painted by

William Bell Scott William Bell Scott (1811–1890) was a Scottish artist in oils and watercolour and occasionally printmaking. He was also a poet and art teacher, and his posthumously published reminiscences give a chatty and often vivid picture of life in the ...

. The National Trust also own the estate of which the house is a part; the produce from these farms, as well as others in the region, was sold in a farm shop on site. The farm shop closed in 2012.

References

External links

Wallington information at The National Trust

The Blacketts of North East England

History

Description

See also

References

External links

Further reading