epw019814 ENGLAND (1927). Ravensworth Castle, Lamesley, 1927

The description of this image has been produced by the group. To listen to an audio of this description as well as some of the participants' personal memories inspired by the image, watch the video below.



This is a picture of Ravensworth Castle in Gateshead, as it was in 1927. The castle looked out onto a large grassy area which is at the bottom of the picture. Behind the castle, at the top of the picture, there seems to be a walled garden with greenhouses, surrounded by trees. Ravensworth Castle was bought by the Liddle family of Newcastle in 1607. It was turned into an elegant house in the 1720s and improved in the 1750s. In the early 1800s it was rebuilt in the style of a medieval castle, and was kept as a family home in 1919. The Liddles gained the wealth to buy and develop Ravensworth Castle from coal mines nearby. By the 1950s the castle walls were cracking and the foundations were sinking, so it was mostly pulled down in 1953.

Here is an audio of the image's description below, produced by blind and partially sighted users of Sight Service Gateshead during a partnership project with Britain from Above. Speaker is Dr Dorothy Hamilton, project lead.

This is a picture of Ravensworth Castle in Gateshead, as it was in 1927. The castle looked out onto a large grassy area which is at the bottom of the picture. Behind the castle, at the top of the picture, there seems to be a walled garden with greenhouses, surrounded by trees. Ravensworth Castle was bought by the Liddle family of Newcastle in 1607. It was turned into an elegant house in the 1720s and improved in the 1750s. In the early 1800s it was rebuilt in the style of a medieval castle, and was kept as a family home in 1919. The Liddles gained the wealth to buy and develop Ravensworth Castle from coal mines nearby. By the 1950s the castle walls were cracking and the foundations were sinking, so it was mostly pulled down in 1953. Bensham group