Lartington Hall

Lartington Hall
Lartington Hall
	Hall from the south east, showing from left to right c.1800 chapel, original 17th-century hall frontage, c.1800 east wing, and 1836 ballroom.
	Location within County Durham
General information
Location	County Durham
Country	England
Coordinates	54.555°N 1.968°W
Website
	https://www.lartingtonhall.co.uk/

Lartington Hall is a 17th-century country house, at Lartington, Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.

Architecture

The earliest part of the house, built for the Appleby family, is the three-storey four-bayed central block and projecting three-storey porch, which dates from about 1635. The west wing and chapel dedicated to St Lawrence were added in about 1800, and an east wing in the early 19th century, to which was added a ballroom in 1836 possibly to a design by Ignatius Bonomi. A curved porte-cochère on the north side, and adjoining vestibule and corridor, were added in 1861-5 by Joseph Hansom.

History

The Roman Catholic family of Maire acquired the manor of Lartington by marriage in 1654. It passed to the Lawson family when Sir Henry Lawson Bt (d. 1834) of Brough Hall married Anna Anastasia, the Maire heiress. Their grandson Henry Thomas Maire Silvertop, who inherited the estate, married Eliza Witham and changed his surname to Witham. As Henry Witham he was High Sheriff of Durham in 1844. His fourth son Right Reverend Monsignor Thomas Edward Witham lived in the Hall from 1847 until his death in 1897 when the estate passed to his grandnephew Francis Silvertop of Minsteracres, who sold it out of the family in 1911 to architect David Magnus Spence, father of renowned social paedriatrician James Calvert Spence. The house was sold again in 1919. In subsequent years the house was let to Richard Forster Matthews and then to his nephew Frederick Berkley-Matthews.

Restoration

Norman Field and later his widow owned the house but after her death it stood empty and neglected for some years. A restoration project by Mr and Mrs Robin Rackham with the assistance of English Heritage commenced in 1980, beginning with extensive works to the roof. In 2011, Lartington Hall was purchased by Mr & Mrs Harper-Wilkes who embarked on a full and extensive restoration of the hall. The hall is now available as a luxury high end exclusive hire venue.

References

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