Beamish Hall is a mid-18th-century country house, now converted to a hotel, which stands in of grounds near the town of

Stanley, County Durham Stanley is a former colliery town and civil parish in County Durham, North East England. Centred on a hilltop between Chester-le-Street and Consett, the town lies south west of Gateshead. Stanley was formerly divided into three distinct set ...

. It is a

Grade II* 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 history of Beamish Hall can be traced back to the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

. The name of Beamish, is derived from a corruption of the Norman word 'Beauvis', meaning beautiful place, or the old French phrase 'bew-mys' which when translated means 'beautiful

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

'. Originally built as a present in 1268 for the wedding of Isabella de la Leigh and Guiscard de Charron, the Manor went on to be occupied by five generations of Charrons and later Monbouchers. The last family member died in 1400. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the fortified manor was occupied by various local

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

s, including members of the Percy family. The manor of Beamish was forfeited to the Crown by Thomas Percy,

Earl of Northumberland The title of Earl of Northumberland has been created several times in the Peerage of England and of Great Britain, succeeding the title Earl of Northumbria. Its most famous holders are the House of Percy (''alias'' Perci), who were the most po ...

as a consequence of his part in the

Rising of the North The Rising of the North of 1569, also called the Revolt of the Northern Earls or Northern Rebellion, was an unsuccessful attempt by Catholic nobles from Northern England to depose Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of ...

in 1569. A manor house (on the site of which the present house was later built), was built in the early 17th century probably by the Wray family. In 1683 the manor was purchased by Timothy Davison a wealthy

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

merchant. He was the Mayor of Newcastle in 1673 and a governor of the merchants company of Newcastle. His family consisted of eleven sons and five daughters. In 1714 his eldest surviving son, William, married Dulcibella (the daughter of John Morton, Rector of

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

and Dulcibella Naylor). In 1739 their eldest daughter Mary Davison, then heiress of the estate, married

Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Windlestone Hall Windlestone Hall is a mid-16th century Elizabethan country house, heavily rebuilt in 1821 to form a Greek revival stately home, situated near Rushyford, County Durham, England. It is a Grade II* Listed building. As of 2022 it is back in private f ...

. The Hall was built in the mid 18th century to replace the old manor. The original three storeyed seven bayed main front was soon extended by the addition of a further three bays. In 1803 Rosemary Smith, a daughter of Sir John Elderwood 4th Baronet, married

Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto (23 March 1776 – 17 January 1848) of Whitworth Hall, Spennymoor, County Durham, was a British politician. He was Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the p ...

Whitworth Hall, County Durham Whitworth Hall which stands in Whitworth Hall Country Park, near Spennymoor, County Durham England, is a country house, formerly the home of the Shafto family and now a hotel. It is a listed building. Descendants of the Shafto family of Shafto C ...

. In 1904 their grandson Rev Slingsby Duncombe Shafto inherited the estate and thereupon took Eden as an additional surname. He was

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 D ...

in 1908. Future

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achieving rapid promo ...

, spent part of his childhood in Beamish Hall. The Edens added a rear block to the house in 1813 and substantial further alterations and additions were made in 1897 and 1910 including an entrance porch with six

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

columns, ballrooms and a winter garden. In 1949 following the death of Robert Shafto, the property was sold to the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

and the family moved to

Bavington Hall Bavington Hall is a 17th-century privately owned country house at Little Bavington in Northumberland. It is a Grade II* listed building. A tower house (Little Bavington Tower) was recorded on the site in 1415, but this was replaced in the late 1 ...

. In 1969 the house was acquired by Durham County Council and from then until 1995 it was occupied by a Local Education Authority residential school. After being declared surplus to the council's needs, the Hall stood empty until August 2000. Later in that year it was again sold and was refurbished by new owners and converted into a hotel.

Beamish Museum Beamish Museum is the first regional open-air museum, in England, located at Beamish, near the town of Stanley, in County Durham, England. Beamish pioneered the concept of a living museum. By displaying duplicates or replaceable items, it wa ...

now occupies part of the parkland in which the house stands. The hall is nearing the end of a renovation, which intends to restore the ancestral home to its original splendour.

References

* ''A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland'' Burke and Burke Vol 1 1835 p47. Google Books. ''Shafto of Whitworth and Beamish''.
Durham County Council, briefing notes Beamish Hall
{{Authority control Grade II* listed buildings in County Durham Country houses in County Durham History of County Durham