Hey all, these were from a couple of years back when I was modelling for legendary vogue photographer Tim Walker (I'm fully aware how pretencious that sounds, sorry) and he regulary uses Howick Hall for his shoots. It was a three day shoot with alot of downtime, so i would always go on an explore rather than sit around, especially as it was FREEZING!!! It's an absolutely beautiful place in gorgeous settings. There are three main wings, with the main middle wing basicly just being shut off unless booked by Tim for a shoot. I was talking to one of the caretakers, who told me part of one of the wings in use was currently being rented by a fella whose job it is to adventure to the deepest parts of the jungle to bring back rare orchids. Apparantly he gets paid millions a year to do this and isnt there that often. I do kind of want to call bullsh*t on that though, coz thats too epic to be true. Sounds more like a crap florist based indiana jones comic. but anyway, its an incredibly beautiful place, with rooms that come off rooms that come off rooms. Theres also heaps of awesome stuff thats been left or stored. This was before i had heard of urbex, so i wasnt really snapping with that in mind, and i do have hundreds more pix somewhere that shows more of the actual room and stuff in them, i just cant find them at the oment but will stick em up when i can but anyway thought you would like to see.
Howick Hall, a Grade II* listed building in the village of Howick, Northumberland, England, is the ancestral seat of the Earls Grey. It was the home of the Prime Minister Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, after whom the famous tea is named.
Howick has been owned by the Grey family since 1319. A tower house, which once stood on the site and which was demolished in 1780, was described in a survey of 1715 as 'a most magnificent freestone edifice in a square figure, flat roofed and embattled' and with 'a handsome court and gateway on the front'. The Hall which stands on the site today was built in 1782 by Newcastle architect, William Newton. The entrance was originally on the south side. The 2nd Earl Grey employed George Wyatt in 1809 to enlarge the house by moving the entrance to the north side, filling out the front hall and the two quadrants linking the house to its wings, and building the first terrace on the south side.
A fire destroyed the whole of the interior of the main house in 1926, with all of the contents of the top two floors. It was rebuilt in 1928 to designs by Sir Herbert Baker, who altered the north façade by introducing a portico above the front hall in order to make the house smaller with an open well in the middle, with a rotunda linking the front and back on the ground floor.
The family moved out of the main house shortly after the death of the 5th Earl Grey. In 1973 his grandson, Charles Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale, converted the west wing into a home, where he and his family now live.
Howick Hall is the location of the Howick Gardens and Arboretum
Heres a couple of set pieces that were being put set up for the shoot i was doing.
Proper loved exploring this place, I have no idea how easy it is to obtain permision to enter here, but everyone i met was amazingly warm and friendly, its definately worth exploring with a urbex mindset on.
Anyway, this was my first report, and i hope you have enjoyed it at least half as much as i have looking through your adventures.
The rest can be seen here; http://s1298.beta.photobucket.com/user/getbusylivinorgetbusydyin/library/howick hall
Howick Hall, a Grade II* listed building in the village of Howick, Northumberland, England, is the ancestral seat of the Earls Grey. It was the home of the Prime Minister Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, after whom the famous tea is named.
Howick has been owned by the Grey family since 1319. A tower house, which once stood on the site and which was demolished in 1780, was described in a survey of 1715 as 'a most magnificent freestone edifice in a square figure, flat roofed and embattled' and with 'a handsome court and gateway on the front'. The Hall which stands on the site today was built in 1782 by Newcastle architect, William Newton. The entrance was originally on the south side. The 2nd Earl Grey employed George Wyatt in 1809 to enlarge the house by moving the entrance to the north side, filling out the front hall and the two quadrants linking the house to its wings, and building the first terrace on the south side.
A fire destroyed the whole of the interior of the main house in 1926, with all of the contents of the top two floors. It was rebuilt in 1928 to designs by Sir Herbert Baker, who altered the north façade by introducing a portico above the front hall in order to make the house smaller with an open well in the middle, with a rotunda linking the front and back on the ground floor.
The family moved out of the main house shortly after the death of the 5th Earl Grey. In 1973 his grandson, Charles Baring, 2nd Baron Howick of Glendale, converted the west wing into a home, where he and his family now live.
Howick Hall is the location of the Howick Gardens and Arboretum
Heres a couple of set pieces that were being put set up for the shoot i was doing.
Proper loved exploring this place, I have no idea how easy it is to obtain permision to enter here, but everyone i met was amazingly warm and friendly, its definately worth exploring with a urbex mindset on.
Anyway, this was my first report, and i hope you have enjoyed it at least half as much as i have looking through your adventures.
The rest can be seen here; http://s1298.beta.photobucket.com/user/getbusylivinorgetbusydyin/library/howick hall
