Seaton Delaval Hall
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Seaton Delaval one November 23
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Seaton Delaval two November 23
Geoff Hughes – The Rise and Fall of Delaval Hall
Well, for all of us present to listen Geoff the other night, none of us were expecting what he told us about the ‘Gay Delavals’ as they were known in the 18th century when they came to England after William the Conqueror, settling in a small manor house in Seaton around 1311.
From this point they proceeded to make their vast wealth by converting sea water into salt with the use of the local coal from Hartley. This was exported via the local harbour at Seaton Sluice, where a pier and lock gates etc. were specially built by the Delaval family. So successful were the businesses in the area, the port became one of the busiest in the country!
Well, for all of us present to listen Geoff the other night, none of us were expecting what he told us about the ‘Gay Delavals’ as they were known in the 18th century when they came to England after William the Conqueror, settling in a small manor house in Seaton around 1311.
From this point they proceeded to make their vast wealth by converting sea water into salt with the use of the local coal from Hartley. This was exported via the local harbour at Seaton Sluice, where a pier and lock gates etc. were specially built by the Delaval family. So successful were the businesses in the area, the port became one of the busiest in the country!
Following this, the family moved from their modest manor house into the newly built hall, which was commissioned by Admiral George Delaval and designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, becoming one of the finest houses in the North of England, built at a cost of £2 million.
The Admiral then filled the house with the finest furniture and artifacts and populated the house with twelve children, the most notable being Francis Delaval.
Known as something of a ‘Jack the lad’, he proceeded to live a life of eccentric luxury and debauchery spending the vast wealth the family had accrued with eventual debts of £7 million.
However, when the money was running out he bought himself a political life, becoming a politician, then a solder of bought fame, but also he continued to be a gentleman of leisure and frivolity. His house parties at the hall were known nationally as a place of extravagance and debauchery, often with the hall having illusions of moving bedrooms, floors, ceilings, baths and general surroundings, much to the surprise of the party guests. His trickery knew no bounds for innovation and expense. Upon his death his funeral cortege went along twenty streets lined with mourners before arriving at the hall.
However, when the Delaval line died out in 1814, the house and its estates were passed onto the Astley family from Melton Constable who continued to expand and refurbish the house until it sadly caught fire in 1822.
This gutted the central hall and the southeast wing, which was subsequently demolished in later years due to excess fire damage.
The central building was partly rebuilt in 1862 with a new roof, but the main interior was never restored and it remains the same to this day.
However, at that time, the new owner/resident Sir John Hussey, though astute and successful in the running of the house and its outlying estates and businesses, saw the demise of area. Firstly, with the hall fire and then more critically, the Hartley Pit disaster. Subsequently the lack of local coal, the demise of salt production and other reliant businesses which began to wane and the affluence in the area and all it supported began to collapse, never to recover.
In the 1940’s after the hall had been partially used as a German POW camp, the Astley family began to restore areas of the hall and after 160 years Edward Delaval Astley, 22nd Baron Hastings moved into the West Wing and made it his permanent home until his death in 2007.
The new Baron Hastings in 2008 then began discussions to sell to the National Trust, with the view to purchase and subsequently maintain the hall as one of its national properties. This they agreed to do but on condition that £6.3 million could be raised to help secure the purchase, which it did.
Interesting to note that W/Bay Rotary made a moderate donation at this time to save this local landmark and after this success, the hall was re-opened to the public in 2010.
Julian gave a vote of thanks for the club and Geoff was warmly thanked for his very informative and amusing talk.
If you are interested in finding out more about Whitley Bay Rotary Club, please contact us either through Facebook, on enquiries@whitleybayrotaryclub.co.uk or by telephoning 07419 736989.
