Biddick Hall is a small privately owned 18th-century country mansion at

Bournmoor Bournmoor ( or ) is a village in County Durham, England, and is situated a short distance from Chester-le-Street. It contains St Barnabas' Church, which houses the Frostley Angel. Originally part of the Lambton Castle estate, the village develo ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

, near the

City of Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most populous settlement in the Wearsid ...

and

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555. The town's history is ancient; ...

. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and the home of the

Lambton family Lambton is the name of several places and people: People * Viscount Lambton, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom associated with the Earls of Durham *Anne Lambton (born 1954), an actress *Antony Lambton (1922–2006), formerly 6th Earl of ...

History

The Lambtons purchased the manor house and estate at South Biddick then comprising about 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 Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

. The central entrance bay has

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

carrying

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. In about 1820

John George Lambton John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, (12 April 1792 – 28 July 1840), also known as "Radical Jack" and commonly referred to in Canadian history texts as Lord Durham, was a British Whig statesman, colonial administrator, Governor General ...

built

Lambton Castle Lambton Castle stands above Chester-le-Street, County Durham and is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earl of Durham, Earls of Durham. It is listed in the mid-category of listed building, listed building, Grade II*. ...

to the west on the adjoining Harraton Hall estate. He was created Baron Lambton in 1828 and

Earl of Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Ref ...

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 This is a list of the high sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of ...

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. In September 2012, Biddick Hall was used as part of the set of the new BBC One drama '' The Paradise''. Biddick Hall was used as a filming location for the 2015 movie ''Estranged''. Shots of the exterior of Biddick Hall are frequently used throughout the fil

References

* – architectural description * ''An Historic Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Durham'' Vol 1. McKenzie and Ross (1834) p361 Google Books

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Biddick Hall (House) Grade I listed buildings in County Durham