By GEMMA SOMERVILLE gemma.somerville@hexham-courant.co.uk

Published at 13:33, Thursday, 17 July 2008

ROMANTIC ruins which provide a window into centuries past are what make Historic Dilston so magical.

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Set within the grounds of Mencap’s Dilston College near Corbridge, it’s clear that Dilston Castle and Chapel were once part of a huge estate and palatial mansion, and were home to a very influential family.

That family was the Radcliffes – Earls of Derwentwater and the most important Roman Catholic family in the North of England.

But for centuries, since the third Earl of Derwentwater James Radcliffe was executed for lending his support to the ill-fated Jacobite Rebellion in 1715, ruins of the once grand ancestral home have lain hidden until recently.

Last year volunteers and students taking part in an archaeological field school excavation, organised by North Pennines Archaeology Ltd, carried out a series of fact-finding exercises to establish the extent of the remains buried at the site.

The project aims to provide archaeology students, and prospective entrants into archaeology courses at university, as well as willing volunteers, with the opportunity to gain valuable fieldwork experience by participating in the project.

Among the key skills taught are topographical surveying techniques, excavation skills, archaeological planning, environmental and finds processing, building recording, computer aided drawing or digitising, and geophysical surveying techniques.

Recording the initial arch of the Jacobean service range of Dilston Castle, as well as defining in plan the remains of any related buildings, took up a lot of last summer for the volunteers.

The work was the first step in an ambitious conservation project aimed at opening the structures to public viewing and interpretation, and safeguarding their long-term survival – an aim which has continued into 2008.

The field school returned to the site in May and will remain until September, devoting all of its time and attention to uncovering the hidden past of the fortified settlement on Devil’s Water.

The buildings on the site have a history stretching back about 800 years. Growing concern about the need for the conservation of the buildings and the dramatic landscape, fuelled by the castle and chapel being included on English Heritage’s list of most at risk buildings, led to a substantial Heritage Lottery grant being secured last year.

Almost £220,000 was awarded to the North Pennines Heritage Trust for Historic Dilston, and an extensive programme of work has been drawn up which, once complete, will open up areas of the site which have never before been open to the public.

The funding will ensure the long-term survival of a number of other historic features on the Dilston Castle site, including the elegant early 17th century Lord’s Bridge spanning the Devil’s Water, and the remains of an extensive Jacobean range of buildings with cobbled flooring that stood close to Dilston Castle.

Evidence of a drainage system from the range leading to where the hall would have stood, has also been discovered, along with decorative stonework at the base of the remains.

Technical director for North Pennines Archaeology Ltd, Frank Giecco, said:“We think the range would have been home to things like dairy buildings and stores, very much the unglamorous side to the estate.

“But you have to remember that the settlement would have been totally self-sufficient, so out-buildings like this would have been a necessity.”

This year’s dig got off to a flying start on May 12 with local volunteers and international students all picking up on the excavation and clean-up of the Jacobean range and exploration of the medieval hall north of the castle.

It is hoped that the foundations of the hall, which once stood alongside Dilston Castle – a 15th century tower house – will enable visitors to understand more clearly the early history of the site.

Four weeks into the season and the field school had made a number of finds, including coins and a late medieval belt buckle.

Mr Giecco said: “To date we’ve found pottery, keys from the hall, Scottish coins which were being used at the time, and a few perfume-type bottles.”

The most urgent work which the team has already begun to tackle relates to a remaining stretch of ornamental walling, a surviving feature of the riverside gardens of the demolished Dilston Hall, which still stands alongside Lord’s Bridge.

Vital structural work needs to be carried out to the bridge and retaining walling because of a danger of collapse due to the invasive roots of overhanging trees.

“We have already restored and re-pointed a lot of these walls where possible,” Mr Giecco explained.

“We have used original stone where we can but with each metre taking two tonnes of stone, I would say we’ve already used about 70 tonnes.”

Both the bridge and walling date to the early 17th century and are shown in an engraving of the mansion, published in 1766.

By the end of September the field school hopes to establish the extent of the Jacobean and medieval remains, to fully record the archaeology and to conserve and display the remains for public viewing.

The Heritage Lottery award will also enable a fallen stairway, leading up to a turret in Dilston Castle, to be restored.

From the restored level, the public will be able to enjoy a panoramic view across the Tyne Valley.

North Pennines Heritage Trust has also acquired a portion of the pasture, to the east of Dilston Castle, which means that part of the foundations of the demolished Dilston Hall can also be exposed.

Before Dilston Hall was built, the area was the site of the medieval township of Dyvelston, which remained a thriving community up until Elizabethan times.

Earthworks of the settlement can be traced in the pasture field, further to the east.

Interpretation boards will help to illustrate how this early settlement was eventually replaced by Dilston Hall and transformed into a grand country estate.

The restoration scheme, planned for Dilston Castle, will include the design of a removable canopy, which could be erected when needed, over the first floor of the ruin.

This will enhance the use of the site and its picturesque setting, by providing shelter and much better facilities for school parties taking part in the workshops run regularly by the education service of the North Pennines Heritage Trust.

The new facility will also enable a variety of functions to take place in the castle, such as summer banquets and a variety of other social, educational and arts events.

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