Seaham Hall is now a luxury hotel and spa.

 

In 1944 my mother was a guest there... or should that be a patient.

 

For at that time it was a sanitorium.

 

Situated on the northern end of North Road overlooking St Mary's Church, Seaham Hall ,owed its existence to Sir Ralph and Lady Judith Milbanke who in 1776 lived in the Old Seaham Manor house, known as “The Cottage”. They demolished and rebuilt the building as Seaham Hall in 1792.  Known as "the house that Judith built" it forms the central part of the present Seaham Hall.  It was fronted by the village green, Home Farm and Pack Horse Bridge across the dene.  Adjoining the Hall to the east was the village inn, roses clustering around its lattices.  A few cottages, the vicarage and Glebe Farm straggled down past the Church.

 

The poet Lord Byron arrived in 1814 to woo and win the Milbanke’s talented daughter, Anne Isabella.  The villagers disliked the morose and moody Byron, too much given to silent walks along the beach to the Featherbed Rock, or westward along the village road later called “Byron's Walk”.  Perhaps he was thinking of phrases for his "Hebrew Melodies" seven of which were written in Seaham. 

 

The doomed marriage took place not in the Church, but in the upstairs drawing room of Seaham Hall on 2nd February, 1815.

 

After staying less than one year Byron deserted his wife and child to live abroad.

 

In 1821 the Milbankes sold the twin estates of Dalden and Seaham to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of  Londonderry and his coal heiress wife, Frances Anne Vane Tempest. 

 

The Marquess of  Londonderry began to develop Seaham Harbour, to enable the import and export of goods, in particular coal.

In the next thirty years the Londonderrys would demolish the old village, add two wings to the Hall, extend and enclose the grounds and have their own private station.  From 1837 onwards, royalty, the rich and the humble were all entertained there.

 

Seaham Townsfolk were allowed to walk freely on its paths and pleasure grounds between sunrise and sunset.  Around the turn of the century the annual flower show and fair, the Cyclists Meet, reviews of the famous Volunteers Brigade, Londonderry Schools Battalions, scouts and guides were all great occasions.  In 1919 the 7th Marquess entertained no less than 10,000 of his workers and their families at a huge garden fete.

 

In 1922, however, the Londonderry family deserted the Hall and, in 1927, presented it to Durham County Council for use as a sanatorium. 

 

For fifty years invaluable work was done in the field of chest diseases and cardio-thoracic surgery until its closure in 1978. 

 

Sunderland Hospital Management Committee administered four hospitals for the treatment of tuberculosis. These were Boldon Sanatorium, Grindon Hall Sanatorium, Havelock Hospital and Seaham Hall Sanatorium.

 

Founded in 1927, Seaham Hall Sanatorium operated as a centre for the treatment of Tuberculosis until 1948, and as centre for the treatment of Tuberculosis and chest/ cardio-thoracic conditions after that date. The Sanatorium became Seaham Hall Hospital in about 1952 and continued in existence until 1979, when the functions were transferred to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

 

Following the closure of the hospital in 1979, the future for Seaham Hall looked bleak. A hotel venture failed. This was followed by a private nursing home which closed in 1995, after which stood derelict for many years.

 

It was then bought and taken over by the Maxfield family who changed it entirely.

 

After extensive renovations, along with new annex buildings Seaham Hall has been transformed into one of the premier spa resorts in the world (and a favourite place for Janice and Emma Peagam to relax and be pampered).

 

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