Secrets revealed as hall is renovated
PROJECT AT STATELY HOME
THE extent of the restoration project taking place at Seaton Delaval Hall has been laid bare in a behind-the-scenes visit to the stately home in Northumberland.
On a grey autumn day, The Chronicle was invited to see the work under way within the grounds and inside the west wing of the 1718 National Trust attraction.
It revealed the huge ambition of the exciting project which involves bringing back footpaths in forgotten areas of the grounds once walked by the famously flamboyant ‘Gay Delavals’ and restoring the hall’s original lay-out by, for instance, opening up a sealed corridor to link it once again to the disused east wing and better show how the household connected and worked in day to day life.
Recent muddy conditions and restricted access do not seem to have deterred visitors who have taken advantage of the site’s currently-limited opening hours of late to see the work in progress.
The west wing - whose furnished interior was always a main focus for visitors given that the fire-damaged central hall is bare and the east wing closed - is no longer accessible as it’s currently at the heart of the revamp and covered in scaffolding.
In our ‘sneak peek,’ we saw that all its furnishings and fittings are gone and the now-gutted wing is stripped back to basics in order to be restored more in its former style.
And the work has already revealed a real surprise - and another of the hall’s historic secrets. When an area of wall was picked by chance and uncovered, it was found to feature an outline of a motif from the Scottish Rifles which nobody knew was there.
Stairs to a cellar beneath the west wing - which the staff knew existed but had never seen - also have been uncovered for the first time.
The intricacies of wiring and the installation of a new heating system in the wing alone are just part of an enormous task which extends to the chimneys.
The restoration has brought back pathways which had long disappeared from the ground and which will open up new areas through the newly-landscaped south east woodland for members of the public to enjoy.
In a new play area - which is taking shape in the north west woodland and is due to open in spring decorative edges in the wooden play equipment have been inspired by Baroque theatre.
That too taps into the Delavals’ passion for theatrics and also to the fact that the estate’s famous architect Sir John Vanbrugh was also a dramatist.
For the first time future visitors will be able to go inside a Brew House building which they may well never have noticed before.
Whereas this is currently pretty much a shell, the building - which actually pre-dates the hall - is to be an impressive new cafe which is set to to hugely improve facilities for visitors, as is the transformation in the carriage house which is being brought into use as a toilet block. Both that and the brew house - where visitors will be able to see the area where the brewing once equipment - are getting entirely new infrastructures which don’t affect the fabric of the original building.
The Seaton Delaval site is closed completely to visitors from Monday to Wednesday to allow the heavy work to take place, but the grounds, central hall and stables are now open for four days a week, with hard hat tours also available to those wanting to climb scaffolding and see the action up-close.
While visitors will have to be patient to see the final results when the first thing they will notice will be an entirely new entrance, near the car park - they will see the revamp unveiled in stages.
As a thank you to players of the National Lottery, the hall will be offering free entry between 10am and 3pm on November 23-24 and 28-29 to those with proof of purchase of a lottery ticket.
Ongoing work at Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland