Sockburn Hall, Darlington: an archaeological ... - English Heritage

Figure 19. Extract from
the Sockburn and
Low Dinsdale Estate:
Particulars, Plan and
Conditions of Sale. Fryer,
Webb & Irvine 30 June
1955. The area of the
hall, church and adjacent
pasture (Lot 2) is shaded
yellow. Reproduction
courtesy of Darlington
Library
1925 it appears to have been sold,perhaps with a portion of the surrounding farmland,
to Stanley Miller Thompson (Kelly & Co 1925, 403; Gatheral Deeds 1950). Various
members of the Blackett family retained a substantial interest at Sockburn until 1950,
two years after Thompson’s death, when the entire estate was consolidated in the
hands of his widow,Wilhelmine (Gatheral Deeds 1950). In 1951 the whole estate,
consisting of the hall, the home farm, East Sockburn Farm, Sockburn High Cottages
and land totalling 934,619 acres was sold to the North England Steamship Company
of Stockton onTees for £41,000 (Gatheral Deeds 1951). This acquisition was clearly a
speculative venture rather than an investment, since, on 3 June 1955, the entire estate
was divided into a number of separate lots and offered for auction (U429 DIN U).
Lot No. 2, termed ‘Sockburn Hall and
Sockburn Piggeries’ in the sale particulars
(Figure 19), referred to ‘14.667 acres
or thereabouts’ and consisted of ‘the
hall and its garden ground, a stone-built
cottage (presumably the coach house),
two excellent ranges of farm buildings, a
good field, and the picturesque remains
of All Saints’ Church, the whole offered
with vacant possession’ (ibid). The lot
was bought by Thomas Burns (Stockton)
Ltd, in what was evidently a business
venture rather than a private purchase
(Gatheral Deeds 1955). A counterpart of
lease dated 16 February 1956 records a
rental-purchase agreement by Colonel Richard Gatheral (timber merchant) and his
wife Lucy covering:
‘…all that mansion house called Sockburn hall with the Cottages outbuildings yards
and pleasure grounds thereto belonging and lands or pieces or parcels of land covered
with water river beds hereditaments and premises containing in the whole and area
of 14.267 acres’ (Gatheral Deeds 1956).
Thomas Burns Ltd went into liquidation in 1963 and the remainder of the lease was
purchased outright in the name of Mrs R O Gatheral (Gatheral Deeds 1963). The
property has remained in the ownership of the Gatheral family to the present day. The
ruined church was formally declared redundant as a place of worship in 1969 when it
was presented as a gift to the then Bishop of Durham. It is currently in the hands of
the Durham Diocesan Board of Finance (Cramp and Wilson 2003, 2).
ENGLISH HERITAGE Sockburn