Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2006


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005


Hunwick Hall © Ryder, P 2005

These are the remains of the medieval manor house of Hunwick. At the time of the Boldon Book, Ralph of Binchester held Hunwick of the Bishop; Hatfield's survey two centuries later shows a later Robert of Binchester similarly holding Hunwick; in 1384, Hunwick was granted to the heirs of John de Burdon, whose main lands were in nearby Helmington, and in the early fifteenth century, to the Hutton family, who held it until the 1630s, and were responsible for the older buildings that stand today; their fortunes reached their zenith under Antony (died 1602) . In the seventeenth century, it was held by the Kennets, who, being Recusants, incurred heavy fines, forcing the sale of Hunwick and other lands in 1681; throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it passed through the hands of a variety of wealthy families, but was never their prime residence (1) (2) (3).

The buildings at Hunwick are arranged around a rectangular yard. The north side of the building is a large chapel. One of the rooms of the basement has a polygonal bay projecting into the courtyard. The same room, now the kitchen, possesses a very fine early 17th century mantelpiece. The chapel occupies part of the north side of the courtyard. Additions of Jacobean date have been made at the south end of the domestic buildings, and over one of the windows are the letters 'J.H.' and an date which can no longer be seen. The initials are now no longer visible. there are other traces of earlier buildings such as doorways with Tudor arches.