Wynyard Park, County Durham

Wynyard Park, sometimes known as Wynyard Hall is a large country house in County Durham, England. The house used to be the family seat of the Vane-Tempest-Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry, but it was sold in the 1980s and currently belongs to Sir John Hall, a property developer and builder of the MetroCentre in Gateshead.

The house

Designed by Philip Wyatt and built 1822-28, the Entrance Front is 13 bays with a 6-column giant Corinthian Portico. The Entrance Hall looked like that of Mount Stewart, the family's estate in Northern Ireland. It has a coffered segmental tunnel vault with apses at both ends and in the middle, suspended from the ceiling there was a large crystal chandelier. The main octagonal center hall extends the full height of the house and has a dome with caryatids around it and a skylight. There is also a mirrored Drawing Room with a gilded and painted ceiling, and a vast callroom similar to that of the family's London residence, Londonderry House.

The family wing of the mansion was nicknamed the Dukes Wing as it was named after the Duke of Wellington and his visit. This side of the house also held the Duke's Gallery, the place the family housed their famed art collection when not in London.

The gardens

As one first sees the house you can see many statues in the entrance court outside the house and in the distance the is an Obelisk. The vast obelisk, convert|127|ft|m high, commemorating the visit of the Duke of Wellington in 1827.

At its height in the 19th century, the Wynyard Estate occupied 7,000 acres (28 km²) in Teesside.

The grounds today include a 15 acre ornamental lake, a walled garden, two entrance lodges, three cottages, a former racing yard and productive farmland.

Brief history

The mansion was started by Benjamin Wyatt and completed by Philip Wyatt for the third Marquess of Londonderry, a famous coal magnate and founder of Seaham Harbour. The Marquess spent the then enormous sum of £130,000 to build and furnish the House. In 1841, just as the mansion was being completed, a fire broke out and gutted the house; it was later restored and remodeled.

There had been a house on the site since the Middle Ages, and the 3rd Marquess incorporated parts of an earlier 18th century building into his house.

In the 19th century, Sir George Vane-Tempest, who became Earl Vane in 1854 and the 5th Marquess of Londonderry in 1872, owned vast estates: 27,000 acres (110 km²) in Ireland and 23,000 acres (93 km²) in England and Wales; he also sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for 26 years.

Upon the death of the 5th Marquess in 1884 his eldest son, Charles, became the 6th Marquess; it was the 6th Marquess's wife, Lady Londonderry, who was the model for the famous Lady Roehampton in Vita Sackville-West's "The Edwardians".

The estate remained in the Londonderry family until 1987, though it was let as a training school for teachers from 1945 until 1960, during which time it lost most of its original contents through sales and breakages.

The estate was sold in 1987 to Sir John Hall, along with 5,000 acres (20 km²). Sir John spent £4 million to restore the house, hiring Rupert Lord to oversee the restoration; he later moved his company headquarters, as well as his home, into the mansion. The estate, comprising the house and 780 acres (3.2 km²) of parkland, was listed for sale in July 2002 for £8 million.

Royal Visits

The Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) were frequent visitors to Wynyard. It was at Wynyard that the Royal Council was held in the early nineteenth century.

Wynyard Park Housing Estate

Wynyard Estates residents include Duncan Bannatyne and many famous footballers including Andrew Davis, Malcom Christie. Ex residents include Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer.Fact|date=September 2008Reported plans to build a eco housing estate has been given the go ahead and will start construction in August 2008, the plans include 2000 houses a 3* hotel and a 5* modern business hotel. Fact|date=June 2008

ee also

*Marquess of Londonderry
*Londonderry House
*Mount Stewart
*Plas Machynlleth
*Seaham Hall
*Loring Hall

External links

* [http://www.wynyardhall.co.uk Wynyard Park official website]
* [http://www.dicamillocompanion.com/Houses_hgpm.asp?ID=2227 Wynyard Park entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses]