Gibside Hall , looking pretty grand from here , but are things all as they seem to be?
Starting to look a bit different from here , so would I visit again, actually yes. It is in some breathtaking countryside and you can happily spend quite a lot of time here walking through the estate. There are a number of features like that hall that will get you thinking and maybe want to learn more about it.
The estate is part of the National Trust and there is some historical information on their website about it. Not surprisingly coal was involved and where there is a lot of money involved things can start to get a bit tasty. Don’t forget the massive wealth in the North East for a few coupled with devastating poverty for the people who were creating the wealth.
One of the first things that you are likely to see on your tour of the estate is the walled gardens with the impressive Chapel in the background.
The walls are quite high so I suspect that they are to keep people out as well as animals that could ruin the crop.
This is where the conflict starts to arise. Good healthy food for the owners of the estate presumably and that Chapel is definitely designed to impress. You want people to know how well you have done in terms of material things with that on your estate.
You can easily see that a good architect has been involved with this project. In terms of viewing the estate it would be a challenge to someone with mobility issues . The National Trust does cater for people in this situation as much as they can but there is only so much that they can do.
A closer view, the theme continues , someone is out to impress and things are different close up compared to from a distance.
A view from the inside.
My reaction to this was pretty much , what is that doing there? It is not in the right place , basically someone is just out to impress.
Why would you put this in your back garden?
This is the view from the Column, you just wonder how many people were involved in the construction.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this is an impressive house on the estate , but nothing is quite what it seems here.
Yes you guessed , it is actually the stables and this is a view of the side of them.
The impressive avenue , that is the thing about Gibside , someone is definitely out to impress, but I don’t like the history , I don’t suppose many do.
So if this is your recollection of Gibside , there certainly is a lot looking like that but there are a lot of interests to make you think as you go for your walk in the country. You don’t have to walk around the estate if you prefer not to , there are lots of places near to the entrance to sit and chill and there is a cafe as well.
Definitely worth a visit and you can see that the National Trust are doing a great job with the estate.