Local History

Washington Old Hall stands majestically surrounded by leafy trees and a nut garden.

A walled garden has been re-modelled giving easier access for wheel-chairs and prams.

In front of the building is a grassed area, great for picnics and lazy Sunday afternoons with a cold drink in your hand.

The Washington Old Hall that, today, stands on The Avenue in Washington dates from the 17th Century and started out as a mansion for the wealthy.

However, in the latter part of the 18th Century, this five-bedroom building became a tenement house for as many as 35 people at one time.

The working class tenants were often living in tiny, cramped rooms, in the poorest of conditions.

In 1932 it was declared unfit for human habitation. The future for the Old Hall was in jeopardy.

But it had not always been like that.

Wooden start

The first record of this hall can be found in charter from 973, but at that time it was a wooden building.

The stone hall was first built in 1183 and was owned by the Washington family. Yes, THE Washington family from which George Washington, the first President of the United States hailed.

It takes a lot of work, keeping it up...

Washington is an Anglo-Saxon name and over the years it’s been spelt Wessynton, Whessingtun and Wassington, but they settled for Washington some time ago.

The Anglo-Saxon meaning of Washington can be broken down like this: Wass means “a Saxon Chief”, Inga means “the family of” and Tun refers to “the estate”. So Washington is translated into “The estate of the Wass family”.

A knight of Norman descent, William de Hertburn, settled in Washington prior to 1183, after he had exchanged his lands at Hartburn with the Bishop of Durham who wanted to add the Hartburn land to his Stockton-on-Tees estate.

William de Hertburn changed his name accordingly, to William de Wessynton after he moved to the area, but it is not known if he had the Hall built or if it was already in place, for instance, some claim that he lived in a fortified tower, surrounded by outbuildings.

Changes still visible today

Over the years, improvements to the dwelling house were made, a hall was added in the middle of the 13th Century.

Some parts of it remain today - the pointed arches are still visible in the Great Hall acting like a divide between the kitchen and the hall.

Edward I visited the Old Hall in September 1304 on his way back from a visit to Scotland.

A banquet fit for the Bishop of Durham

This was evidence of the Washington family status at the time and they adopted a new coat of arms shortly afterwards.

From Washington to Mallory to the Bishop of Durham

In 1399, the older Washington family had more or less dispersed and some moved as far a field as Lancashire and Cumbria where George Washington’s forefathers settled.

But the Washington Old Hall was still in the Washington family’s hands, so to say.

The hall had been passed on to Eleanor Washington, who in turn passed it on to her daughter Dionisia who married Sir William Mallory.

The Mallory family eventually sold the manor to William James, the Bishop of Durham.

It seems his son Francis James was in charge of the re-build of the Old Hall in the 17th Century and the Old Hall was transformed into a five-bedroom manor.

Due to remodelling over the years, very little of the original layout remains.

The American connection pays off

After the Hall was re-modelled to house the large families in the late 19th Century and the subsequent Closure Order for the building, local people feared the worst and formed a preservation committee to raise funds to save the building.

Much of the restoration had been funded by donations from American benefactors - they brought funds, furniture and not least enthusiasm to the project.

The American connection, which is still evident today with the capital seat bearing the family name, can be seen in the extensive donated collection of portraits of George Washington and illustrations relating to the American Independence era.

The restoration of the Old Hall didn’t get underway until 1951 and in 1955 it was opened by the American Ambassador.

It was given to the National Trust the year later who have taken care of it since.

Washington Old Hall is open to the public from 2 April to 29 October.