Howick Hall - Izeria

Howick Hall, a Grade II* listed building in the village of Howick, Northumberland, England, is the ancestral seat of the Earls Grey. It was the home of the Prime Minister Charles, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845), after whom Earl Grey tea is named. Howick Hall is the location of the Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum.

1. Older versions of Howick

Howick has been owned by the Grey family since 1319. A tower house, which once stood on the site and was demolished in 1780, was described in a survey of 1715 as "a most magnificent freestone edifice in a square figure, flat roofed and embattled" and with "a handsome court and gateway on the front".

1. 1782 version and 1809 expansion

The Hall which stands on the site today was built in 1782 by Newcastle architect, William Newton. The entrance was originally on the south side. The 2nd Earl Grey employed George Wyatt in 1809 to enlarge the house by moving the entrance to the north side, filling out the front hall and the two quadrants linking the house to its wings, and building the first terrace on the south side.

1. Destruction by fire and rebuilding

A fire destroyed the whole of the interior of the main house in 1926, with all of the contents of the top two floors. It was rebuilt in 1928 to designs by Sir Herbert Baker and George Reavell, who altered the north façade by introducing a portico above the front hall, in order to make the house smaller with an open well in the middle, with a rotunda linking the front and back on the ground floor.

1. Use since the 1960s

The family moved out of the main house shortly after the death of Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey in 1963. In 1973 his grandson, Charles Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale, converted the west wing into a home, where he and his family now live.

1. References


1. External links

Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum website

Nearby Places View Menu

St Michael and All Angels Church, Howick

St Michael and All Angels Church is a Church of England parish church located within the grounds of the gardens of Howick Hall in the village of Howick, Northumberland, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, receiving around twenty thousand visitors annually.

Church Landmark

Howick, Northumberland

Howick ( HOH-ik) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Longhoughton, in Northumberland, England, between Boulmer and Craster. It is just inland from the North Sea, into which Howick Burn flows from Howick Hall. In 1951, the parish had a population of 246.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Howick house

The Howick house is a Mesolithic site located in Northumberland, England. It was found when an amateur archaeologist noticed flint tools eroding out of a sandy cliff face near the village of Howick. Investigations found a circle of substantial post holes with charcoal stains in their bases, a number of smaller stake holes, some angled in from outside a hollow, and inside the house a number of shallow hearths filled with charcoal, burnt nutshells and some fragments of bone. Radiocarbon dating of the charred hazelnut shells established that the building was constructed about 7600 BC and occupied for about 100 years, which led to the find being called "Britain's oldest house". This title was disputed in 2010 when the discovery of the even older 'house-structure' at Star Carr in North Yorkshire was announced. Some of the hearths showed signs only of nut roasting, and the numbers of shells suggested that food was cooked here in quantity, perhaps to preserve it for times of scarcity. Together with the very substantial construction shown by the size of post holes, this led to the view that the house was occupied permanently rather than being used on a transient or seasonal basis as expected during the Mesolithic period. Charred hazelnut shells have been found at several other sites from this period, including Cramond, but their smaller stake holes were interpreted as remains of a temporary encampment. The interpretation that this was a permanent residence for hunter-gatherers is supported by analysis that Howick is a place where natural resources would have allowed all-year-round occupation. Its coastal position provided animals, flint for tools, wood for construction and fuel, fish, seals, sea birds and their eggs, shellfish and a nearby source of fresh water that was available at the time of occupation. Many sites from this time are coastal, but the particular circumstances found here and the evidence of ceremonial ritual from the site at Star Carr in Yorkshire, only 100 miles away, are interpreted as indicating that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were capable of establishing permanent settlements.

Historic Site Landmark

HMS G11

HMS G11 was a G-class submarine of the Royal Navy in service during the First World War. One of six of her class built by Vickers at Barrow in Furness, she was launched on 22 February 1916, and commissioned on 13 May 1916.

Landmark Maritime