The rescue of one of the North East’s great historic houses in now complete after a four-year, £7.4 million project.
Architect Sir John Vanbrugh’s ‘s Seaton Delaval Hall, in Northumberland, was ravaged by fire exactly 200 years ago. The National Trust acquired the hall in 2009 after a massive fundraising effort, notably by the local community with the backing of a year-long campaign by The Journal.
Now, a major repair and restoration project titled The Curtain Rises has secured its survival. It has re-roofed the West Wing, restored the important cantilevered staircases, rescued the basement from dereliction, and introduced playful interpretation and features that tell the story of the Delavals who called the hall home.
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General manager Emma Thomas said: “We wanted to usher in a new chapter in the hall’s history. As well as the critical repairs to conserve the hall for the future, we wanted to bring the drama back and reintroduce some of the spectacle and flamboyance that the Delavals were known for, and that made them the toast of Georgian society.”
A key element of the project – one of few able to continue throughout the pandemic – was the restoration of the Central Hall’s east and west cantilevered stairs, with funding from The Historic House Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Installed in the early 1700s as part of Vanbrugh’s design, and spanning the full height of the hall, these were an early example of their kind and a feat of engineering for their time.
Specialist stonemasons repaired and stabilised worn and cracked steps and replaced each landing. A full digital scan was also taken of the staircases, giving a baseline to help monitor the ongoing condition of the stonework and its future conservation needs.
In the damp, dark basement – once servants’ rooms, beer and wine cellars and storage – flagstones were laid and sympathetic lighting installed to highlight Vanbrugh’s striking spaces. Above them, the north and south portico stepped entrances to the hall were lifted and damp-proof membranes installed to prevent water ingress and resolve damp in the basement.
Lord Hastings, whose parents were the last family members to live in the hall, said: “The extent of the transformation has been a pleasure to see, and the quality of work and materials is outstanding. The restoration of the staircases, the development of the brewhouse cafe and the re-landscaping of the gardens are significant improvements. And opening the cellars has added a whole new dimension to the Central Hall.”
Other conservation work has included rebuilding and repointing collapsed ha-ha, garden and sea walk walls, rebuilding and repointing the three corner bastions and immediate safeguarding of the Orangery and Mausoleum. Six chimneys on the west wing roof have been re-built and the historic brewhouse building has been converted into a visitor café, which has won a 2022 RIBA North East Award.
Potting sheds have been conserved and made into a community workshop space while there has been significant conservation work to the 1765 stables, where Captain Frances Blake Delaval once famously held a banquet. Work has included addressing damp, conserving the stone stall dividers, and re-laying collapsed sections of floor.
Decorative stone corbels supporting the Minstrels’ Gallery were also replaced, with funding from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund. Taking traditional casts of the corbels in-situ was not possible because of the hall’s hibernating bats, so stonemasons instead used newly available technology to scan them with lasers and created full-size polystyrene maquettes to work from.
Throughout the hall, creative new installations designed by Imogen Cloët and production company Sonsie Ltd. capture the spirit of the Delaval family, flamboyant Georgian partygoers who loved theatre, mischief and showmanship.
Emma Thomas said: “Even in an age notorious for extreme behaviour, the lively Delavals stood out for their extraordinarily colourful, spirited lifestyle. They loved a performance, and were great patrons of the arts, but they were also renowned for their gambling, scandals and practical jokes. This was a party house, and we wanted to really bring some of those stories of the Delavals to the fore.”
Visitors can see a three-metre ship in a bottle, which nods to the family’s maritime connections and nearby bottleworks – once the UK’s largest glassmaking factory; a Baroque-style travelling theatre in the Old Kitchen; an upside-down room, echoing one of the most infamous Delaval pranks; and scales which invite visitors to weigh themselves -the family’s guests were weighed on arrival and departure, with an increase a sign of good hospitality.
A large mirrored sphere hangs from the ceiling of the Central Hall, a reminder of the family’s love of trickery and illusion, while encouraging visitors to look up and take in the architecture of the space.
Ms Cloët said: “Creating the interpretation scheme we were inspired by the collection, the Delaval family’s own passion for theatre both on and off stage, Vanbrugh’s dramatic ‘stage set’ of a building as well as the exciting and innovative times they lived in. It was also the golden age of theatre. We wanted to create something that was beautiful and playful that felt like it belonged to the hall, so created a journey through the property that presents the stories of the family and the hall using the structure of a play.”
In the West Wing, a new Collections Store has been created to a design by Interior Architecture students at Northumbria University, enabling visitors to see items, from paintings and fine ceramics to furniture. A ‘conservation in action’ space has also been created in the Mahogany Room, where visitors will soon be able to see demonstrations and talks about the hall’s varied collections.
Ms Thomas said: “This is just one part of our Rising Stars partnership with Northumbria University, which has been at the heart of our work to reintroduce Georgian spectacle to the hall. We’ve worked with students across Conservation, Fine Art, Interior Architecture, Media and Tourism and Multidisciplinary Innovation and it has been mutually beneficial.
“Students have had valuable hands-on experience of developing their soft skills for the workplace and working in the heritage sector. In turn, they have delivered excellent ideas with fantastic results, from creating resources for secondary school teachers and capturing oral histories to developing events for our visitors.”
In the garden and wider landscape, new features include a Mirror Cube and Dark Matter Cube, designed by Studio Hardie, and ‘speaking tubes’ that let visitors surprise each other from opposite sides of the ‘crinkle crankle’ hedge. Taking inspiration from the 1781 estate plan, the South East Gardens have also been revived.
Funding for the project consisted of £3.7m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, £3 million from the National Trust and almost £750,000 in support from other funders (including The Royal Oak Foundation, The Barbour Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, Wolfson Foundation, Historic Houses Foundation, Art Fund) and donations from the public.
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