Rokeby Hall, near Barnard Castle - geograph

Rokeby Park 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 peopl ...

in the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style in the civil parish of Rokeby, in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. It is close to the confluence of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

and River Greta, near

Greta Bridge Greta Bridge is a village on the River Greta in County Durham, England. Geography and administration Greta Bridge lies in the Pennine hills near to Barnard Castle. The bridge (now bypassed by the A66 trunk road) is over the River Greta just ...

in what is now

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. It was

historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. Rokeby is pronounced ‘rookbee’ (although many pronounce it ‘rowk-bee’ and this is the more commonly heard pronunciation locally). It is the private home of Sir

Andrew Morritt Sir Robert Andrew Morritt, CVO (born 5 February 1938), is a former British judge who served as Chancellor of the High Court of England and Wales. Life and career Morritt was educated at Eton College and Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was ...

but is open to the public on selected days. The house is the original English home of the painting ''The Toilet of Venus'' by

Diego Velázquez Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (baptized June 6, 1599August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter, the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain and Portugal, and of the Spanish Golden Age. He was an individualistic artist of th ...

, now known in English as ''

The Rokeby Venus The ''Rokeby Venus'' (; also known as ''The Toilet of Venus'', ''Venus at her Mirror'', ''Venus and Cupid'', or '' La Venus del espejo'') is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Completed between 1647 ...

''. The original now hangs in the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

and a copy in the saloon at Rokeby Park. Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

was a regular visitor to the house and used it as the setting for his narrative poem '' Rokeby'' in 1812. The building is of interest in its own right. Completed in 1735 (and known at the time as Rokeby Hall) by

Sir Thomas Robinson Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, (c. 169530 September 1770), of Newby, Yorkshire, was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British diplomat and politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons between 1727 and 1761. Early l ...

, it is considered a fine example of the italianate Palladian style. Robinson owned it until 1769, when he sold it to JS Morritt, an ancestor of the current owner. Much of the present interior was designed by John Carr. The house contains the collection of fine needlework pictures by Anne Morritt (1726–1797), the unmarried sister of JS Morritt. There is also a rare surviving print room wallpapered with 18th-century prints.

External links

Rokeby Park website
* Country houses in County Durham Grade I listed buildings in County Durham Historic house museums in County Durham Houses completed in 1735 {{Durham-struct-stub