NOSTALGIA
Work is well under way on the construction of new homes at Lambton Estate, near Chester-leStreet, County Durham.
As the ambitious project, by Miller Homes, nears fruition, it is worth recalling some of the interesting back story of the historic site.
The estate is home to 1,000 acres of park and woodland.
Lambton Castle in the midst of rolling green fields and overlooking the River Wear was built in the 1820s by John Lambton, the first Earl of Durham - but the estate can trace its history back to the 11th century.
Penshaw Monument was built in 1848 to honour John Lambton who was also known as ‘Radical Jack’. It’s a replica of the Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, but half the size of the original. It can be seen from many places in the North East.
Around 1,500 cavalry troops camped on the estate’s racecourse field during World War I.
Lambton Castle was used as a residential adult education college during the 1950s.
And, in 2012, the estate was the backdrop for the BBC period drama The Paradise - an adaptation of Émile Zola’s novel Au Bonheur des Dames that relocated the story to North East England and was set in England’s first department store in the 1870s.
But it was in its 1970s guise - when the estate became home to a popular wildlife safari park - that most people will remember the area.
Thousands of North East folk flocked to Lambton Lion Park on family outings and school trips. Opened in July 1972 in the grounds of Lambton Castle, the roar of lions began to be heard across the plains of County Durham.
The first guidebook declared: “This undulating, heavily wooded estate with a romantic castle at the centre acts as a perfect backcloth against which to exhibit Africa’s fauna.”
Spread over 200 acres, the lions were the park’s main attraction, but there were also zebras and giraffes, mostly supplied by Jimmy Chipperfield of the famous circus family.
Asian elephants, camels, bears, ostriches and baboons were some of the other Lambton regulars. The park was also home to the world’s second largest land mammal, the white rhino.
By 1975, the park had become hugely popular, and there were sometimes three-mile tailbacks of cars waiting to gain entry. That year it was upgraded and relaunched as Lambton Pleasure Park.
Later features included