When Kate Barnard came into possession of Raby Castle nearly a decade ago, she felt as if she had inherited “a sleeping giant” on the edge of the North Pennines, “one that it was high time to wake up”. Unlike the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District, the Tees Valley has “never really felt that accessible before”, she says. “What better use could there be for Raby now than as a place to explore its landscape, history and culture?”
So began The Rising, Barnard’s ambitious, years-long quest to transform Raby into County Durham’s answer to Carole Bamford’s Daylesford – the project’s name is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the castle’s role in a 1569 attempt to wrest power from Elizabeth I and reconcentrate it in the hands of northerners. In lieu of Tudor armies, Barnard’s chief adversary has been the centuries’ worth of possessions across the more than 55,000-acre estate. “In the Coach House alone, there was an extensive collection of Victorian carriages to deal with, including two that had served as horse-drawn fire engines, bells and all.”
This spring, said Coach House will reopen as an exhibition space highlighting Raby’s phenomenal history and ongoing rewilding, while the Dutch Barn and Riding School, which fell out of use with the advent of the railway, will begin hosting events for up to 500 guests. The jewel in Raby’s crown, however? Its walled garden, ensconced within 200 acres of parkland where both red and fallow deer graze. Artfully reimagined by landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei, its 19th-century yew hedge has been sculpted into dramatic topiaries, while the locally famous Raby fig trees have been coaxed into life once more, and a grass amphitheatre installed to host concerts in the summer.
“We’ve enjoyed having the wonders of this place to ourselves all these years,” reflects Barnard, “but, 20 generations in, I think it’s probably time the secret got out, no?”
Stay…
At the High Force Hotel, owned by the Raby Estate and perched beside the 21-metre cascade immortalised by JMW Turner, where guests can head into the North Pennines on guided stargazing exhibitions.
Visit…
Seaham on the Durham Heritage Coast, now miraculously recovered after centuries of industrial pollution; the former home of Britain’s largest glassworks, the beach here is lined with a rainbow of sea glass.
Shop…
In the market town of Bishop Auckland, whose galleries and boutiques have had new life breathed into them by the heritage-focused Auckland Project – think exquisite leatherwork and tweeds made according to historical patterns.
