My next stop will be Alnwick Garden and some views of my first summer visit there.

This is one of the best-surviving examples of a peel tower – a regional type of fortification built by rich families in the late Middle Ages to defend themselves during violent times on the Anglo-Scottish border. *

The Middleton coat-of-arms are displayed above the porch along with the inscription: THOMAS MIDDLETON AND DORATHY HIS WIFE BVILDED THIS HOUSE ANNO 1614.

*Information from the English Heritage guide book.

It is meant to evoke the open-roofed atrium, or central courtyard, of a classical villa – a Roman architectural precedent rather than a Greek one. The Northumberland climate meant that it had to be roofed, with natural lighting being provided by roof lights and a clerestory, or upper level of windows. The Pillar Hall functioned both as a reception and a circulation space, giving access to the different parts of the house.. On the ground floor are closely spaced lonic columns with Doric columns on the floor above – a reversal of the usual arrangement in classical buildings.*

The stairs and the gallery have brass balustrades which were designed by  Sir Charles’ sister Isabella.  The artificial lighting on the upper level  was provided by brass lamp stands, which screwed into the top of the balustrade between the Doric columns.

*From the English Heritage guidebook.

Belsay Hall was a modern villa with a comfortable library, drawing room and dining room built to overlook a romantic prospect to the south. But its owner, Sir Charles Monck, was obsessed by ancient Greece and owned every book published on Greek architecture. So the details inside and out were derived from the Classical buildings which he had seen on his honeymoon in Athens. Work began on the house in 1807 and finished in 1817. *

*From the English Heritage guide book.

Belsay is the creation of the Middleton family, over more than seven centuries.  The Middletons were first recorded as owning  Belsay in 1270 and although they moved out of the hall in 1962, the estate that surrounds the historic nucleus of the hall, castle and garden remains in their possession.  the great fortified tower that still dominates the castle was built both as a statement of family pride and as a response to the conflict and unrest in this border region between England and Scotland.  It was then extended into a rambling country house after the union of the tow kingdoms under King James 1 in 1603 brought relative peace.  The Middletons lived in the castle until the completion of the new mansion, which was designed by the then owner Sir Charles Monck (1779-1867).*

Under the guardianship agreement which passed the care of the hall into government care in 1980, the hall is displayed without furnishings so that it reveals the fine craftsmanship that went into its construction.

*From the English Heritage guide book.