Crook Hall Gardens

At 10:00 precisely, the wooden gate was unlatched, opened and the NT Greeter shoved a site map into my hand and pointed me in the direction of the gardens. Scanning the site map, there didn’t seem much of an area to explore and it did cross my mind whether I might have been better just to rest up rather than visit this place. Size isn’t everything though, as the saying goes, and my visit turned out to be far better than I ever expected. 

Crook Hall is a 14th century medieval hall, with a 17th century Jacobean wing and a Georgian townhouse. Its main features for me though were the wonderful surrounding gardens. They were small and compact, but incredibly beautiful. The first garden near the entrance included a circular maze. Given the condition of my foot, I decided not to venture into it and get lost. I gradually made my way uphill towards the house. Looking back I could see the towers of Durham Cathedral sat on the hill above the peninsula. It made a wonderful backdrop. 

Wandering around the tranquil and timeless gardens it’s hard to believe that there was once a gasworks and colliery near here. The surrounding hillside was scarred by quarries and brickworks. Oddly enough, these turned out to be the site’s saviour since it prevented urban development in the area. Once the gasworks and colliery closed down, the site turned into this oasis of beauty.     

I entered the small walled gardens in front of the Hall. There were still plenty of colourful flowers on display despite it being mid-October. Oddly enough, the small nature of the gardens seemed to enhance, rather than detract their visual impact. Another advantage was that I didn’t have far to walk with my throbbing foot to appreciate the gardens. The Hall was beckoning and I hobbled towards its entrance.  

Crook Hall

The Hall was built in 1286 by Peter del Croke (hence Crook) and is thought to be one of the oldest domestic houses in Durham. A corridor from the front entrance led me into the Medieval Hall which was built in the 14th century. This was a large stone floored space with the roof and large wooden supporting beams visible. The Hall would have once been the heart of the house where the family ate, drank and entertained guests. There was a minstrels gallery along the internal wall that was accessible by some stairs. Over time, the residents lived in other parts of the house and the hall was put to other purposes. In the 19th century  it was used as a beer bottling plant. The hooks hanging from chains attached to the wooden rafters, were probably used to support machinery. The Billingham, Hopper, Raine and Cassels families owned or were tenants of the Hall over the years. Crook Hall Colliery was closed in 1924 and the gardens were largely laid out after 1928. Maggie and Keith Bell bought the hall as a private home in 1995 and generously opened the doors to the public in 1998. 

The Raine family rented Crook Hall between 1834 and 1858. During that time they hosted William Wordsworth, John Ruskin and Count Boruwlaski.  

I have to confess that I’d never heard of Count Jozef Boruwlaski (1739-1837) and so had to look him up. I would never have guessed that he was a Polish born dwarf who was employed by the Polish Royal Court. Employed in this sense meant they he was owned and traded by members of the Court and gifted to the Kings and Queens. He appears to have travelled extensively throughout Europe with his Royal family. They in turn kicked him out when he fell in love with a new companion of the Countess. He did get a small allowance from the Polish King though, but this was stopped when the King got wind of Boruwlaski making a reasonable living as a musician. Josef was a good guitar and fiddle player and was able to dance while he played.  He visited England, Scotland and Ireland between 1783 and the early 1790s. Amazingly, he retired in Durham thanks to the help from Thomas Ebdon, the organist of Durham Cathedral. Jozef Boruwlaski died in Durham in 1837 at the age of 97. He was buried in Durham Cathedral. His stone just has the initials J.B. inscribed on it and it can be found on the floor in the north west nave, under the RAF Memorial Window. Apparently, there is a life size (35 inches) statue of him in Durham Town Hall. 

The rooms next to the Main Hall had now been converted into a second hand bookshop. I looked out of a window, across the walled gardens to Durham Cathedral and thought, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t mind this room as an office.’  It was only later that I found out that Crook Hall has resident ghosts. The most famous one is the ‘young and comely’  White Lady who met a tragic end in the hall. She was the niece of a former owner who was murdered in a fit of anger. The Hall’s previous owners reportedly saw the White Lady sitting at the end of their bed. Another ghost is a 14th century soldier who somehow got bricked up within the walls of the hall and left to die. Supposedly ‘his icy hand has been felt on the back of many modern visitors.’  You’ll be disappointed to hear that I didn’t encounter any supernatural experience while I was there and to be honest, I would have welcomed  an icy hand to try and reduce the swelling on my big toe. 

Toad And Vegetables

As I departed from the house, I came across a dozen National Trust volunteers who were sitting around in a circle drinking tea. I shouted ‘hello’ and was surprised that nobody responded. They did all get up though and started walking off in various directions of the garden. Maybe I’d disturbed their unofficial tea break. Nearby was a large metal sculpture of a toad and some toadstools. The toad had a fly hanging out the side of his mouth. It was created by local artist Graeme Hopper. The Toad was placed on a wooden table with logs drying beneath it, so that it looked rather like it was on a funeral pyre. 

I moved on to the Vegetable Garden and the Wellbeing Garden beyond. I was struck by the colourful display of flowers. They  made a tremendous sight. There was a small grass area with a picket fence around it. Inside was a small tile roofed shed, with a washing line outside and some ‘pretend’ clothes drying in the breeze. It was supposed to look idyllic and it did. There was a small collection of steel, wire and pottery that had been sculptured roughly into a human shape. A sign said that this was ‘Erda’ and that it was an 8th Century word meaning ‘ground’, ‘soil’ and ‘country.’ 

Moat Pool, Orchard And Shakespeare

I moved on to the Moat Pool which was a decent size. This feature dated back to the 14th century when it was originally constructed  as a dry defensive ditch. Over time the ditch was transformed into a pond. 

Next to the Moat Pond, I found the Orchard. There were still plenty of apples on the trees. There were cherry, damson and plum  trees in the Orchard too. It was a magical area with a stone sculpture of a naked woman and a flagstone path weaving between the trees.   

These different gardens at Crook Hall were all separated by walls, hedges or other vegetation. The next garden along was the Shakespeare Garden. The plants in this garden were inspired by those contained in a book produced in Shakespeare’s time. The Crook Hall guide said that it included Yew, Crab Apple and Medlar Trees, Rosemary, Chives, Mint, Lavender and Feverfew, Musk Rose, Iris, Primrose, Cowslip and Imperial Lily. I’m not a horticultural expert  and so can’t confirm whether you’ll find all the flowers in the above list in the garden. I can confirm though that it was a very pretty garden  with one of the trees having rather a neat topiary haircut so that it looked to me like an iced-lolly. ’ 

Cathedral Garden

The Cathedral Garden looked like it was a new and ‘work in progress’ project. It was possible to see that wonderful view of Durham Cathedral from the garden which I guess is the reason why they chose this name for it. Along one side there was a long flowerbed that was shaped like a series of stained glass windows. When the plants have grown in this area, these flower beds will look quite impressive. A sign indicated that the topiary box represented the monks who lived in the Cathedral and the Yew reflected the longevity of religion. 

On the way back to the entrance to the site, I came across a pet cemetery near to the maze. I was tempted to have a peek into the maze, but thought better of it. I’d spent over an hour touring Crook Hall Gardens. It’s a compact site, but they cram a lot into it and get every inch of value out of the place. It was well worth the visit. 

There was a café onsite and I did think about dropping in for a coffee. Time was progressing though and I still needed to walk the riverside trail around Durham’s peninsula and also visit the Cathedral, and so declined the temptation. My toe was still throbbing, but I hobbled off in the direction of the River Weir.