Crook Hall

Crook Hall, sited near Lanchester, County Durham, some 8 miles north west of the city of Durham, was one of two Roman Catholic seminaries which temporarily replaced the Douai seminary in Douai, France when that college was suppressed soon after the French Revolution. Crook Hall was itself superseded after a few years by Ushaw College.[1]

Not to be confused with Crook Hall, a mediaeval house in Durham.

History

The hall had belonged to the Baker family since 1635, when it was purchased by George Baker, Knt., the second son of Oswald Baker of Durham. George Baker served as a recorder of Newcastle-on-Tyne and was a defender of that town for King Charles. His son George inherited the estate in 1667. George Baker MP, grandson of the original owner and member of parliament for Durham City, remodelled the house in 1716.[2]

Crook Hall
Crook Hall in 1894, shortly before it was demolished

When the Douai Catholic seminary closed in 1793 the students were hastily brought back to England with the intention of creating a new seminary there. The refugee students were divided into two groups, one of which (mainly composed of students who were destined for the Northern Vicariate) moved on 15 October 1794 into Crook Hall, which had been leased from George Baker. The mansion was at that time unoccupied since Baker had moved his primary residence to Elemore Hall.[3]

They studied under the guidance of Thomas Eyre, one of the former professors, John Lingard, the future historian and John Daniel, the president of Douai at its suppression. After ten years Crook Hall proved inadequate and in 1804 Bishop William Gibson began the building of Ushaw College at nearby Ushaw Moor, to which the college transferred in 1808. [4]

The local village of Crookhall developed as coal and iron ore deposits were exploited. The hall was purchased by the Consett Iron Company in 1877 and demolished circa 1900. [5]

References
  1. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ushaw College" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. Burke, Bernard. "Baker of Elemore Hall and Crook Hall", A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 1, Harrison, 1858, p. 41
  3. Records and Recollections of St. Cuthbert's College Ushaw, Preston, E. Buller and Son, 1889, p. 68 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. "Ushaw College". New Advent. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. "Local History". The Crookhall Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.

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