Ravensworth Castle is a ruinous 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 ...
and a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
situated at
Lamesley,
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, Newc ...
, England. The building has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times, and was the seat of the
Ravensworth barons, the Liddells.
History
The castle may have started as a
solar tower, which could have been added to an existing manor house approximately 1315. Further towers appear to have been added incrementally throughout the course of the fourteenth century.
Early owners included Fitz-Marmaduke,
Viscount Lumley
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
and Gascoigne. In 1607, the castle was purchased by Thomas Liddell, a wealthy
Newcastle-upon-Tyne merchant.
Liddell and his family would hold onto the estate for the following 300 years, much of their fortune would come from
coal mining on the land, beginning in the early 17th century.
In 1724
Sir Henry Liddell built a substantial mansion within the curtilage of the castle, but this was demolished in 1808 by
Sir Thomas Liddell, and replaced by a grand house designed in the
Gothic Revival style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
by architect
John Nash. The
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
was entertained there in October 1827.
, daughter of
Sir Thomas Liddell wrote about visiting the castle in 1831, while still in her childhood.
Around 1935, the family began mining for coal directly under the house, with demolition of the building starting around the same time. The intention was to use the wreckage to build a
model village, but with the interruption of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, only three houses were created.
The majority of the house had been demolished by 1953.
''Restoration'' series
The castle was featured in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. All thirty candidates from the series also featured in a book which was produced after the series.