Seaton Delaval Hall, near Blyth in Northumberland, long famed as the northern exemplar of Sir John Vanbrugh’s ‘castle style’ mansions, was acquired by the National Trust (with unparalleled local community fundraising support) in 2009. The most recent and largest program of National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported conservation works, the “Curtain Rises” project, is just coming to a crescendo including important restoration of the gardened grounds around the hall. This work has been based on over five year’s archaeological research designed to understand the hall’s original gardens more completely and identify where its archaeological remains survive so that they can be effectively protected. The result is a complete redrawing of the understanding of the C18 landscape design, its authors, and the extent of the Northumberland landscape it encompassed.
A ticket for this individual session costs £5, and you may purchase tickets through Eventbrite via the link here.
Mark Newman M.A., M.C.I.f.A, F.S.A., is the National Trust’s Archaeological Consultant for the east side of its North region, helping to advise and support the conservation of National Trust properties between Berwick and the boundaries of Great Manchester. He was first employed by the Trust on the project building the visitor centre at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in 1988 and has advised (as well as avidly explored) the property ever since. Mark’s work for the National Trust covers an enormous range of development and research projects spread across approximately 75 properties, many concerned with the archaeology of parks and gardens. The long-term perspective of the organization sets the scene for developing an exceptionally curious and accumulative research approach, put to full use in advising conservation.
