| Lambton Castle | |
|---|---|
 Lambton Castle in the late 19th century | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Type | Stately home |
| Town or city | Chester-le-Street, County Durham |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 54°52′01″N 1°32′10″W / 54.867°N 1.536°W NZ298526 |
| Designations | Grade II* listed building |
Lambton Castle stands above Chester-le-Street, County Durham and is a stately home, the ancestral seat of the Lambton family, the Earls of Durham. It is listed in the mid-category of listed building, Grade II*.
Largely constructed as it is between 1820 and 1828 by John Lambton, first Earl of Durham and one-time Governor General of Canada, it was built around Harraton Hall, a 17th-century mansion. The castle was designed by architects Joseph Bonomi the Elder and his son Ignatius and built in the style of a Norman castle, as was the fashion of the time.[1]
Later additions to the house built by Sydney Smirke in 1862–65, including the great hall, were largely demolished in 1932.[1] The structure had suffered from subsidence.[2] In the 1930s the family moved to the smaller Biddick Hall on the estate.[3]
The park that surrounds the castle is bordered by a high wall. The family keep going its annual pheasant shoot. The grounds from 1972 until 1980 accommodated a venture which closed, Lambton Lion Park.[4]
Later the family have sold Biddick Woods enabling a link road from the A182 to the A690 in Houghton le Spring and new business units.[5]
In 2012, the castle was the setting of the BBC One drama The Paradise.[6]
On 30 December 2015 plans for the estate's development were submitted to the local planning authority to help fund park upkeep and conservation, with a vision to turn the castle into a wedding venue, boutique hotel or both, aiming to spend £26 million to £28.5 million on building and labour. The plans were submitted by the Trustees of Lord Durham’s 1989 Voluntary Settlement, which manages the estate on behalf of the family.[7]
