Hurworth Grange Community Centre is a building in the village of

Hurworth-on-Tees Hurworth-on-Tees is a village in the borough of Darlington, within the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the civil parish of Hurworth. The village lies to the south of Darlington on the River Tees, close to its mee ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Built in 1875, it has had a long and varied history, from private residence of a wealthy Quaker banking family to its modern-day use as a community centre.

History

Hurworth Grange was constructed in

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

, commissioned by Alfred Backhouse as a wedding gift for his nephew, James Edward Backhouse. The building is a large

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

Victorian mansion that at one time boasted of a lovely rock garden created by the famous Backhouse nursery of Yorkshire. Over the years the house changed hands, being used as a residence by the Rogerson family and then later the Spielman family. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Jewish refugees were housed at Hurworth Grange and a military installation was set up in its grounds. In 1956 ''

Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as OH), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian they are also known commonly as the Fatebenefra ...

'' purchased Hurworth Grange to use as a Juniorate School. In 1967 the Juniorate School was closed and Hurworth Grange was purchased by the local Parish Council for use as a community centre.

Hauntings

Regular patrons of the Hurworth Grange Community Centre have reported various types of

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

activity occurring. In early 2005 ''Anomalous Phenomena Investigations'' (API), of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, run by founders Colin & Cindy Nunn and Chris & Jo Carnegie, were granted exclusive privileges to investigate the alleged

hauntings This is a list of locations that are (or have been) said to be haunted by ghosts, demons, or other supernatural beings throughout the world. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Argentina * Cinco ...

. In August 2006 the

BBC North East and Cumbria BBC North East and Cumbria is one of the BBC's BBC English Regions, English regions covering Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside, City of Sunderland, County Durham, Northumberland, north and mid Cumbria and parts of N ...

crew filmed the team conducting an investigation at Hurworth Grange. The show aired on 30 October 2006 and was presented by

Anna Nolan Anna Nolan (born 16 October 1970) is an Irish television presenter, producer and former business manager, waitress and Irish international basketball player. She has presented numerous television programmes in Ireland and the UK. Early life Wh ...

. API continues to conduct regular investigations at Hurworth Grange, with future plans to publish a book about their findings.

External links

Official Hurworth Grange WebsiteAnomalous Phenomena Investigations Website
{{coord, 54.4854, -1.5419, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Alfred Waterhouse buildings Community centres in England