{{Short description|Country house in Tyne and Wear, England}} {{distinguish|text=Churton Hall in Cheshire}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb '''Chirton Hall''' or '''Chirton House''', occasionally spelled '''Churton''' and originally '''Cheuton''', was a country house in Chirton, in what is now a western suburb of North Shields, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically, the house was in the county of Northumberland.

==History== In 1672, Ralph Reed sold his land in Chirton to John Clarke,<ref name="historyofparliamentonline.org1983">{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/clarke-john-ii-1675|title=Clarke, John II (d.1675), of Chirton, Northumb.|year=1983|publisher=The History of Parliament Trust|accessdate=25 November 2011}}</ref> an agent of Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland.<ref name="Committee1907" /> The Countess of Northumberland gave Clarke the materials to build the hall from the demolished Warkworth Castle.<ref name="Tomlinson1968">{{cite book|author-link= William Weaver Tomlinson|last=Tomlinson|first=William Weaver|title = Comprehensive guide to Northumberland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3AKAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|orig-year= 1888|year= 1968|publisher=David & Charles|page=410|isbn=9780715343111}}</ref><ref name="Reprints of rare tracts & imprints of ancient manuscripts, &c: chiefly illustrative of the history of the northern counties">{{cite book|title=Reprints of rare tracts & imprints of ancient manuscripts, &c: chiefly illustrative of the history of the northern counties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-ssAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA24|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1849|publisher=Printed at the press of M.A. Richardson|page=24}}</ref> The labour to build the large, plain, brick house<ref>Mackenzie (1825), [https://archive.org/details/anhistoricaltop00mackgoog/page/n481 p. 457]</ref> came from the Percy estate.<ref name="historyofparliamentonline.org1983" /> The text of Clarke's documented letter from 1672 is shown to the right.

{{Quote box | quote ="William Milbourne, -Being to take downe the materialls of Warkworth Castle, which are given to me by the Countess of Northumberland to build a house at Cheuton, I doe desire you to speake to all hir ladishipps tenants in Warkworth, Birlinge, Buston, Acklington, Shilbottle, Lesbury. Longhaughto, and Bilton, that, they will assist me with their draughts as soone as conveniently they can, to remove the lead and tymber which shall be taken downe, and such materialls as shall be fitt to be removed, and bringe it to Cheuton, which will be an obligation to theire and your friend, JO. CLARKE." | source =<ref name="Mackenzie1825">{{cite book|last=Mackenzie|first=Eneas|title=An historical, topographical, and descriptive view of the county of Northumberland, and of those parts of the county of Durham situated north of the river Tyne, with Berwick upon Tweed, and brief notices of celebrated places on the Scottish border. ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-RtNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA116|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1825|publisher=Mackenzie and Dent|page=116}}</ref> | width =35% | align =right }}

Clarke spared many of the castle walls because he found it would be more expensive to pull them down than to purchase new stones from the quarry.<ref name="Chatto1835">{{cite book|last=Chatto|first=William Andrew|author-link=William Andrew Chatto|title=Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish border; interspersed with brief notices of interesting events in border history|url=https://archive.org/details/ramblesinnorthu00chatgoog|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1835|publisher=Chapman and Hall|page=[https://archive.org/details/ramblesinnorthu00chatgoog/page/n68 56]}}</ref> After he died in 1675, Clarke's widow, Jane, married Philip Bickerstaffe (MP for Berwick in 1685) the same year<ref name="Committee1907" /> and Chirton Hall became his seat.<ref name="Tyne1945">{{cite book|author=Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne|title=Archaeologia aeliana, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1pgbAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1945|publisher=Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne|page=119}}</ref> Jane died in 1694.

On 1 August 1699 Bickerstaffe surrendered his copyhold lands in Chirton to Sir William Blackett who sold the hall to Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll.<ref name="Committee1907">{{cite book|author=Northumberland County History Committee|title=A history of Northumberland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWsgAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1907|publisher=A. Reid, Sons & Co.|pages=2, 241, 322}}</ref>

Robert Lawson, the High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1707, resided at Chirton Hall and by that time, there were adjoining plantations.<ref name="ParsonSheffield)1828" /> It was owned by the Milburns in the early 18th century and, through marriage, it was passed to the Roddams, and then the Collingwoods.<ref name="Russell1891">{{cite book|last=Russell|first=William Clark|title=Collingwood|url=https://archive.org/details/collingwood00russ|accessdate=21 November 2011|edition=Public domain|year=1891|publisher=Methuen and co.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/collingwood00russ/page/185 185]–}}</ref> In 1767, the owner was James Hylton de Cardonnel Lawson.<ref name="Commons1861">{{cite book|author=Great Britain, Parliament, House of Commons|title=House of Commons papers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g90SAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150|accessdate=21 November 2011|edition=Public domain|year=1861|publisher=HMSO|pages=150–}}</ref><ref name="Gentleman's magazine and historical chronicle">{{cite book|title=Gentleman's magazine and historical chronicle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiU7AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA50|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1767|page=50}}</ref> It became a property of Edward Collingwood (1734 – 1806), a commissioner of Greenwich hospital,<ref name="Committee1907" /> and a barrister who ordered the construction of Dissington Hall.<ref name="Mackenzie1827">{{cite book|last=Mackenzie|first=Eneas|title=A descriptive and historical account of the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne: including the borough of Gateshead|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CPsVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA436|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1827|publisher=Mackenzie and Dent|page=436}}</ref><ref name="Lewis">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50875|author=Lewis, Samuel|title=A Topographical Dictionary of England|year=1848|pages=599–603}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dissingtonhall.co.uk/history.php|title=The Builder - Mr Collingwood|publisher=Dissington Hall|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> then of his cousin, Lord Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (1748–1810), a notable naval commander. After Cuthbert Collingwood's death in 1810, the house passed to his brother, John Collingwood.<ref name="Mackenzie1827" />

In 1828, a '''West Chirton Hall''' belonged to Michael Robson (1783-1837), a coal baron.<ref name="ParsonSheffield)1828">{{cite book|last1=Parson|first1=William|last2=White|first2=William |title=History, directory, and gazetteer, of the counties of Durham and Northumberland: and the towns and counties of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed. Together with Richmond, Yarn, and detached places appertaining to the bishopric and palatinate of Durham; including copious lists of the seats of nobility and gentry, and a variety of commercial, agricultural, & statistical information ...|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MbA3AAAAYAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1828|publisher=Printed for W. White & Co. by E. Baines and Son|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MbA3AAAAYAAJ/page/n450 441]}}</ref><ref name="Thompson2004" /> The last reported owner was his daughter, Annie Robson, who married on 23 August 1843.<ref name="Thompson2004">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Roy|title=Thunder underground: Northumberland mining disasters, 1815-1865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6sgAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=2004|publisher=Landmark|isbn=978-1-84306-169-4|page=129}}</ref> In 1870, portions of the Chirton estate were sold off in numerous lots.<ref name="Fordyce1876">{{cite book|last=Fordyce|first=T.|title=Local records: or, Historical register of remarkable events which have occurred in Northumberland and Durham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, with biographical notices of deceased persons of talent, eccentricity, and longevity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B90xAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA53|accessdate=21 November 2011|edition=Public domain|year=1876|publisher=T. Fordyce|pages=53–}}</ref>

Chirton Hall had fallen into ruins by the mid-19th century and no longer exists. In 1968, it was reported that little more than the piers of the gateway remained.<ref name="Lewis" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tynelives.org.uk/memoirs/page1.htm |title=The memoirs of Cissie Ewen:Life in Chirton |publisher=www.tynelives.org.uk |accessdate=21 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425235121/http://www.tynelives.org.uk/memoirs/page1.htm |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Haunting== In the 19th century, it was reputed to be haunted by the former mistress of the Duke of Argyll who lived there.<ref name="ParsonSheffield)1828" /> The sound of her silk dress was reported to have been heard, her ghost being known as "Silky".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/northumberland/nhumdata.php|title=Northumberland - Paranormal Database Records|publisher=Paranormal Database|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> The road on which the building was located subsequently became known as Silkey's Lane.<ref name="White1933">{{cite book|last=White|first=William|title=Notes and queries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DYEEAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=21 November 2011|year=1933|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=620}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|33em}}

Category:Houses completed in the 17th century Category:Country houses in Tyne and Wear Category:Reportedly haunted locations in North East England Category:North Shields Category:Former country houses in England