2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of Pockerley Old Hall at the museum, helping to bring the Georgian era to life for our visitors.
Unlike many of the museum’s exhibits which have been translocated or replicated, Pockerley is original to the site and has stood on its hilltop spot for several centuries, with the first record of a settlement there in 1138. The name Pockerley comes from two Anglo-Saxon words – “pock” or “pokor” meaning “pimple or bag-like” hill, and “ley”, normally meaning a clearing in the woodland.
The first record of a settlement at Pockerley appeared in the “Buke of Bolden”, a rental survey which was carried out for the Bishop of Durham Hugh de Pudsey in 1183. This survey was the region’s equivalent of the Doomsday Book which did not include County Durham.
Over the years, a number of names have been linked to Pockerley, including the de Pockerleys in the 13th century, the Gromes, Hedworths, Newtons, Blakistons of Gibside, Bowes/Strathmores and Shafto family.
Pockerley had a tenant farmer until 1990, when the hall became part of the museum. After extensive restoration and development work, Pockerley opened to visitors in 1995.
Today, visitors see Pockerley Old Hall as it would have stood in the 1820s, representing the home of a well-to-do tenant farmer, and can discover a period of great industrial, social and cultural change.
The museum’s Senior Curator Seb Littlewood explained: “The later Georgian period was one of great change in the North East. Although an agrarian society, the region was becoming increasingly urbanised and industrialised. The region was leading the way in its agricultural development with the work that local breeders like Thomas Bates and the Collings Brothers were doing to improve livestock quality.
“Engineers like George Stephenson and his son Robert, were pioneering steam locomotive power and the North East’s plentiful supply of coal was increasingly needed to provide fuel for the growing cities and the industry of the time. North Eastern coal and grain, as well as supplying a local market, was also shipped down the east coast to help keep London fed and its fires going.”
The exhibit is split into two halves – the main farmhouse, known as the “new house”, is thought to date back to the late 1700s. Built of local sandstone, it replaced an earlier medieval manor house.
The medieval strong house, known as the “old house”, adjoins the farmhouse and is likely to have originally been a single, defensible house in its own right. It too is built of sandstone, and its roof timbers have been dated back to the 1440s.
The terraced garden is typical of those found in the early 1800s. It consists of three areas – an ornamental garden with flowers and herbs, a vegetable garden and an orchard.
Marcin Kopkowski, Georgian & Rural Life Team Leader at Beamish, said: “Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pockerley Old Hall’s opening at Beamish Museum fills me with immense joy! I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this extraordinary exhibit, especially alongside the wonderful team that brings these Georgian stories to life for our visitors. We are all eagerly anticipating the countless tales yet to unfold within its walls.”
We’ll be celebrating three decades of Pockerley with 30 Georgian activities.
Things will get off to an explosive start with an impressive display of Napoleonic muster by The Old 68th Durham Light Infantry Society and Display Team! On Saturday, 17th and Sunday, 18th May, visitors can watch drill displays and find out about life in the army at this time in our 1820s Landscape.
The museum’s Events Manager Paul Foster said: “Starting from Saturday, 17th May through to New Year’s Eve (31st December), visitors will be able to learn more about life in Georgian times through a whole host of activities and demonstrations.
“From storytelling, blacksmithing and Georgian games to clog dancing and basket making demonstrations, there will be something for the whole family to enjoy.”
Other highlights include sundial and compass making, a Georgian hiring fair, wool dying and seed planting.
The 30th activity will take place up to New Year’s Eve, when The Ran Tanners will play the traditional music of Georgian England using fiddles, bagpipes and squeezeboxes.
For a full list of activities, visit www.beamish.org.uk/events/pockerley-30.