Cutting Edge in County Durham

The clergy in Durham were often enthusiastic builders, especially of their own rectories and halls.

This lecture focuses on Gainford Hall, built for the Reverend John Craddock, and related examples of clerical-gentry building across C17 County Durham. These men often had a significant income and were connected through their academic ties to the great world of London and the English universities. Despite living 'in the podex of the land' they were often at the cutting edge of developments in domestic building in Renaissance England.