Croxdale Hall

Croxdale Hall is a privately owned country mansion situated at Croxdale near Sunderland Bridge, County Durham. It is a Grade I listed building.

The staunchly Roman Catholic Salvin family came to Croxdale by the marriage in 1402 of Gerard Salvin of Harswell, Yorkshire, to Agnes Wharton, heiress of Croxdale. They have held the property ever since.

The house originally in Tudor style dates from the 17th century but major alterations in about 1760 were carried out probably to designs by architect John Carr, including the two storey seven bay west entrance front. The impressive internal Rococo plasterwork dates from this time.

Further alterations by architect James Wyatt in about 1807 included the addition of a five bay south wing and the insertion of a Gothic Revival-style Roman Catholic chapel into the 18th century north wing.

A disused 12th-century chapel which stands in the grounds is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and also a Grade I listed building. It was in use as a Chapel of Ease to St Oswalds, Elvet, until the new parish church of St Bartholomew was built by the Salvins in 1845. The chapel is on English Heritage's Buildings At Risk register and is deemed to be in poor condition, particularly due to severe damp. Also in the grounds is an 18th-century house (Grade II* listed) which housed the priests who served as Chaplains to the Salvin family.

The house served as a military hospital 1940-1945 and thereafter as a maternity home until at least 1954. More recently the Hall has been restored as a family home.

One of the rooms used for maternity wards had a very expensive chinese wallpaper on the walls. It was so expensive it was taken down and stored during the war to keep it safely. Ann Catleugh and David Catleugh were born in the Hall. Ann in 1946 and David 1952.

The house is open the public only by appointment (see the Visit North East England reference for details).