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One of Vanbrugh's great Baroque houses, Seaton Delaval Hall (June-Sept Wed & Sun 2-6pm; GBP3), lies eleven miles northeast of Newcastle in fine gardens, its gloomy north facade looking over the bleak terrain towards the port of Blyth. Fire badly damaged the hall in 1822, a century after it was built, but subsequent restorations have done ample justice to the sombre grandeur of a building that exemplifies the architect's desire to create country houses with "something of the castle air". Public transport is with the #363 (hourly) or #364 (hourly; not Sun) bus from Haymarket, a 35-minute ride to Seaton Delaval Avenue head, from where it's a twenty-minute walk to the hall. Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens (daily: April-Sept 10am-6pm; Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March 10am-4pm; GBP3.90; EH), fourteen miles northwest of Newcastle, were inherited in 1795 by Sir Charles Monck, who eleven years later decided to build a brand new hall here after his return from a honeymoon-cum-Grand-Tour of Europe. Sir Charles planned a majestic Doric house, an austere one-hundred-foot-square sandstone block raised on a podium of three steps. Built between 1807 and 1817, the Hall has now been impressively restored, while to the west a footpath threads through to the magical Quarry Gardens . Here, in the shelter of the sandstone quarry used for the building of the Hall, lush exotic vegetation cascades over exposed rock faces, planned by Sir Charles as a Romantic antidote to the severity of the house. The track also leads to the substantial remains of the medieval castle , its battlements punctuated by four formidable corner turrets. Belsay village , on the main road a mile from the Hall, is readily reached by bus from Newcastle; the #808 from Eldon Square (not Sun), or #508 from Haymarket (summer Sun only). Eight miles northwest of Belsay lies the tiny village of Cambo ; the summer Sunday #508 service (twice a day) links the two. Just outside the village stands Wallington House (April-Sept 1-5.30pm Mon & Wed-Sun; Oct same days 1-4.30pm; GBP5.50; NT) an ostentatious mansion rebuilt by Sir Walter Blackett, the coal- and lead-mine owner, in the 1740s. The interior's highlight is the Rococo plasterwork, though William Bell Scott's Pre-Raphaelite murals of scenes from Northumbrian history in the central hall are good fun, too. There's a separate charge (GBP4) if you only want to see the grounds , with their lawns, woods and lakes (daily dawn-dusk), and the beautiful walled gardens , which shelter conservatories, fountains and a huge variety of plants (daily: April-Sept 10am-7pm; Oct 10am-6pm; Nov-March 10am-4pm).
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