Plan your visit to Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens with North East Escapes. Explore the Greek Revival house, medieval castle and famous Quarry Garden. |
Visit Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Three Centuries in One Estate
Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens in Northumberland offers one of the most varied and unusual visitor experiences in the North East, bringing together three quite distinct historic environments within one breathtaking estate. The medieval tower house, the Jacobean mansion attached to it, the extraordinarily austere Greek Revival hall built in the early nineteenth century, and the extraordinary Quarry Garden are all within easy walking distance of each other, representing in miniature the architectural history of the English country house from the fourteenth century to the Regency period. It is managed by English Heritage and is consistently rated among the most interesting historic properties in Northumberland.
The Middleton family owned Belsay for over 600 years, and the estate's extraordinary architectural sequence reflects their ambitions and enthusiasms across the generations. The medieval castle, dating from around 1370, is a well-preserved example of the Northumbrian tower house, built as a defensible residence against the constant threat of Scottish raids. In the early seventeenth century a manor house was built attached to the tower. In 1806 Sir Charles Monck, returning from his honeymoon in Greece where he had studied the architecture of ancient Athens, began building the austere neoclassical hall that bears the family name, quarrying its stone from the site and using the resulting quarry as the basis for the extraordinary garden that is now one of the estate's greatest treasures.
The Quarry Garden is the highlight for many visitors, a garden of extraordinary drama and atmosphere created in the void left by the quarrying of the hall's stone. Deep rock faces of warm yellow sandstone tower above sinuous paths winding through exotic plantings of tree ferns, bamboos, rhododendrons and architectural perennials. The effect in summer is almost tropical in its lushness and in winter the bare rock and structure of the planting creates a completely different kind of beauty. The hall interior is currently under a programme of restoration, with certain rooms open depending on the season. The castle and manor house can be explored freely once inside the estate. The formal terraced gardens between the hall and the quarry contain outstanding herbaceous borders.
Belsay Hall is located at Belsay, Ponteland, Northumberland, NE20 0DX, approximately 15 miles north-west of Newcastle Upon Tyne, signposted from the A696. It is managed by English Heritage and open from April through October. English Heritage members enter free; tickets for non-members should be booked online. Allow at least two hours for a thorough visit, more if walking all the garden areas. The estate has a gift shop and refreshment facilities.
North East Escapes offers holiday homes in the Northumberland countryside within reach of Belsay, ideal for visitors combining the estate with the wider attractions of mid-Northumberland. The area is well-placed for day trips to Newcastle Upon Tyne, Hadrian's Wall, the Northumberland National Park and the coast, making our central Northumberland holiday homes a superb base for an active and culturally rich North East break.
