Chirton Hall or Chirton House, occasionally spelled Churton and originally Cheuton, was a country house in

Chirton Chirton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southern edge of the Vale of Pewsey about south-east of Devizes. The parish includes the hamlet of Conock, about half a mile west of Chirton village. Both settlements are jus ...

, in what is now a western suburb of

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcast ...

, North East England. Historically, the house was in the county of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, 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 Ab ...

History

In 1672, Ralph Reed sold his land in Chirton to John Clarke, an agent of

Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland Josceline (or Joceline) Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland, 5th Baron Percy (4 July 1644 – 31 May 1670), of Alnwick Castle, Northumberland and Petworth House, Sussex, was an English peer. Origins Percy was the eldest son of Algernon Percy, 1 ...

. The Countess of Northumberland gave Clarke the materials to build the hall from the demolished

Warkworth Castle Warkworth Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Warkworth in the English county of Northumberland. The village and castle occupy a loop of the River Coquet, less than a mile from England's north-east coast. When the castle was founded is unc ...

. The labour to build the large, plain, brick house came from the Percy estate. The text of Clarke's documented letter from 1672 is shown to the right. Clarke spared many of the castle walls because he found it would be more expensive to pull them down than to purchase new stones from the quarry. After he died in 1675, Clarke's widow, Jane, married Philip Bickerstaffe (MP for Berwick in 1685) the same year and Chirton Hall became his seat. Jane died in 1694. On 1 August 1699 Bickerstaffe surrendered his copyhold lands in Chirton to Sir William Blackett who sold the hall to

Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, 10th Earl of Argyll (25 July 1658 – September 1703) was a Scottish peer. Biography The eldest son of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll and Mary Stuart, daughter of James Stuart, 4th Earl of Moray ...

. Robert Lawson, the

High Sheriff of Northumberland This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in t ...

in 1707, resided at Chirton Hall and by that time, there were adjoining plantations. It was owned by the Milburns in the early 18th century and, through marriage, it was passed to the Roddams, and then the Collingwoods. In 1767, the owner was James Hylton de Cardonnel Lawson. It became a property of

Edward Collingwood Sir Edward Foyle Collingwood LLD (17 January 1900 – 25 October 1970) was an English mathematician and scientist. He was a member of the Eglingham branch of a prominent Northumbrian family, the son of Col. Cuthbert Collingwood of the Lanc ...

(1734 – 1806), a commissioner of Greenwich hospital, and a barrister who ordered the construction of Dissington Hall. then of his cousin, Lord

Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently a ...

(1748-1810), a notable naval commander. After Cuthbert Collingwood's death in 1810, the house passed to his brother, John Collingwood. In 1828, a West Chirton Hall belonged to Michael Robson (1783-1837), a coal baron. The last reported owner was his daughter, Annie Robson, who married on 23 August 1843. In 1870, portions of the Chirton estate were sold off in numerous lots. Chirton Hall had fallen into ruins by the mid-19th century and no longer exists. In 1968, it was reported that little more than the piers of the gateway remained.

Haunting

In the 19th century, it was reputed to be haunted by the former mistress of the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...

who lived there. The sound of her silk dress was reported to have been heard, her ghost being known as "Silky". The road on which the building was located subsequently became known as Silkey's Lane.

References

{{Reflist, 33em Houses completed in the 17th century Country houses in Tyne and Wear Reportedly haunted locations in North East England North Shields Former country houses in England