Whitworth Hall which stands in Whitworth Hall Country Park, near

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham, England, Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers ...

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, is a country house, formerly the home of the Shafto family and now a hotel. It is a

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 ...

. Descendants of the

Shafto family The Shafto family is an alternative surname for the Ffolliot family, who were established in the 14th century at Shafto Crag, Northumberland and adopted the alternative surname of Shafto. Shafto of Little Bavington, Northumberland In the 15th ce ...

of Shafto Crag, Northumberland, served as Aldermen,

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

and

Sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

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 ...

in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1652 Mark Shafto,

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

of Newcastle, purchased the manor of Whitworth. His son Robert, knighted in 1670 was Recorder from 1660 and his grandson 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 1709. Two sons of Mark Shafto junior represented Durham City in Parliament: Robert Shafto 1712/3 and 1727/30 and John Shafto 1729-42. John was the father of Robert Shafto, better known as ''Bobby Shaftoe'', who vastly increased the family fortune by his marriage in 1774 to Anne Duncombe of

Duncombe Park Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family who previously held the Earldom of Feversham. The title became extinct on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1963, since when the family have continued to hold the title Baron Feversham. The park is si ...

. Their son

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 ...

, (also

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Durham City and later High Sheriff in 1842), who married Catherine Eden, daughter of Sir John Eden Bt of

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 ...

, replaced the old manor house with a new mansion in 1845. The house was substantially destroyed by fire and all that now remains of the 1845 rebuild is the detached library wing. The present two-storey seven-bayed house dates from the rebuild of about 1900. Branches of the Shafto family had seats at

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 ...

Beamish Hall 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. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The history of Beamish Hall can be traced back to the No ...

and

. Whitworth Hall Hotel & Deer Park is now privately owned and operated as a hotel and wedding venue.

References

* {{NHLE, num=1160067 , desc=Whitworth Hall, accessdate=27 October 2019 * ''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''. Grade II listed buildings in County Durham Country houses in County Durham History of County Durham Spennymoor