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In 1759 Mathew Stephenson, a wine merchant from Newcastle bought Walworth Castle for £16000 but did not keep it for long and sold it in 1775 to John Harrison merchant of Newcastle. He died in 1819 and left the estate to his only child Ann who married General Arthur Aylmer.
General Aylmer was Lieutenant General of the Durham Light Infantry in 1825. He died in 1831 and is buried in a family vault under the family Pew of the North Aisle in Heighington Church.
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John Harrison Aylmer the only son to succeed the General in 1861 had
re-roofed the building and decorated the two towers with pillars capped with balls reminiscent of soldier statues which were said to have stood there.
Tragedy struck the family on August 20th 1868 when Mr Aylmer, Rosanna his wife, their eighteen year old son were killed in the Abergele Railway Accident. Their train travelling to Holyhead was hit by 6 runaway wagons loaded with paraffin. They were among the 33 victims.
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In 1868 Vivian aged 12 and Edmund aged 9 became owners of Walworth Castle. In 1887 Vivian was High Sheriff of Durham. He was a great traveller and a Big-Game hunter. He was the only survivor of the first party to explore Somaliland and to cross and map the Horn of Africa in 1885.
In 1931 he died and is buried in Caerleon, where his brother was later laid beside him.
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After the death of the Aylmers the estate was bought by the brothers Neville and Charles Eade. They were descended from General Aylmer through his daughter Augusta. She married the Revd. David Eade. Neville Eade lived at Low Walworth until 1959. During the Second World War the Castle was let to the Durham Light Infantry where they used it for high ranking German and Italian officers. In 1950 the Castle was sold to Durham County Council where they turned into a residential school for girls.
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Walworth Castle was sold by Darlington Borough Council and opened in the summer by John and Jennifer Wayne as a Hotel. |
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In July 2000 the current owners Rachel and Chris Swain made major improvements to all the public areas and in 2003 a new Conservatory roof was installed for the Courtyard.
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The whole castle has completed its refurbishment programme with new bathrooms and bedrooms. |
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Changes to our west wing bedrooms and external windows are planned for 2006 with the first 3 sample rooms completed. |
