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You may find this information helpful when researching the area prior to your visit

Rising of the North

The famous Rising of the North was plotted by the Nevilles at Raby in 1569, with the help of the equally powerful Percy family of Northumberland. Support for this rising came from all parts of the North East;

"Now was the North in arms: they shine
In warlike trim from Tweed to Tyne,
At Percy's voice : and Neville Sees
His followers gathering in from Tees,
From Wear and all the little rills
Concealed among the forked hills
Seven hundred knights Retainers all
Of Neville at their master's call
Had sate together at Raby Hall.

William Wordsworth

The Rising was an attempt to replace Elizabeth I with her cousin the catholic Mary Queen of Scots, at a time when the people of northern England were mostly of the Catholic faith. Unfortunately for the Nevilles the Rising failed and Raby was confiscated from the family by the Crown along with their other great properties at Barnard Castle and Brancepeth.

Rabys Whitewashed Houses

In 1626 Raby became the seat of the Vanes, Earls of Darlington and Dukes of Cleveland and the present owner, Lord Barnard is a member of this family. He is the owner of the vast Raby Estate which extends over a large area of south Durham. Farmhouses and cottages belonging to this estate can be found throughout the northern side of Teesdale and are easily identified by their attractive whitewashed exteriors. Whitewashing goes back to the days when a Duke of Cleveland became stranded in a storm while out hunting in Teesdale. He was refused shelter at a local farmhouse which he had mistaken for one of his own properties. The Duke was determined not to suffer such a humiliation ever again and ordered that from that day on, all buildings belonging to his estate were to be painted white for identification.Raby Castle is said to be haunted by three ghosts, they are the headless Henry Vane the Younger, Sir Charles Neville and the First lady Barnard, who is known as `Old Hell Cat'.

Viking sculptures from Gainford

Gainford on Tees, near Winston to the south east of Raby was in Anglo-Saxon times the centre of an important estate belonging to the Northumbrian Congregation of St. Cuthbert. In the later Dark Ages this area was taken by the Vikings, whose settlement in the area is indicated by the names of the nearby villages of Selaby, Eppleby and Killerby. Selaby was the village where sallow grew, Eppleby the place where apples grew and Killerby was the village of someone called Kilvert. The name Kilvert is thought to be an Old Norse name meaning `One who defends the prow of a ship'.Archaeologists have found a number of Viking sculptures at Gainford and some examples of these are on display at the Monk's Dormitory of Durham cathedral. Many of the sculptures found at Gainford show both Northumbrian and Viking influence, suggesting that the vale of the Tees was an area where these two cultures intermixed.