Here is a great picture of Witham Hall, Eaglescliffe. Not the best picture but does give a good idea of what the house looked like!
Photograph and details courtesy of James Hull.
Witham Hall, Eaglescliffe
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Picture Stockton Archive 
Hi, the out buildings that surround Whitham Hall survived a lot longer than the actual hall itself. I’m not sure when the hall was demolished but the out buildings were demolished around 1975-1980. No trace of any of the buildings are left today.
LikeLike
Hi Mike – really helpful. Looking at old pictures taken in the direction of Witham Hall (mostly by train spotters at Eaglescliffe station) I would notice a small building which did not correspond to the size of Witham Hall, this must have been the out buildings referenced! Did you get to see Witham Hall when It was still standing and if so can you let me know what it looked like (e.g what where the grounds like, could you visit it via the now demolished footbridge, why was it demolished etc) Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. James
LikeLike
Hi James, I dont remember the Hall but do the outbuildings around 1975-80. If you Google “picture”:- ENGLAND (1932). Eaglescliffe Railway Station and the town centre, Eaglescliffe, 1932. You will see the hall in white, directly over the railway bridge, the bridge was actually only built for Hall itself. The Hall was probably a farm, as the farm that stands today (about a mile towards Heartburn from the hall) wasn’t there when you look at the picture of 1932. As I was born and lived in Eaglescliffe 1969-1987, I find this really interesting thanks Mike.
LikeLike
Hi Mike,
I think the oblique angle of the 1932 BFA photo means the objects in the distance are very small and so blurred. It also makes the lay of the land hard to judge. I think all the buildings & farms between Preston and Stockton are there, it’s just that they are so small in the overall image. I’ve added a pin to the BFA image (https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW038903) for the locations of Pennypot House, Potato Hall, Melrose House, Manor House Farm, Moor House Farm & Red House. Some can be seen but others are lost as they merge into the surrounding features. (You need to register, for free, on the BFA site to see the pins and be able to zoom in).
LikeLike
Thanks for that. I can see the farm now. What a great picture. So many buildings that have long since gone. My mother’s family, born and bred in Eaglescliffe would have had all the answers but are long gone now. My father was from Yarm and thinks the hall was something to do with the quarry? He did point out the fire station on Elmwood road. Thanks again.
LikeLike
Hi James, a railway photo that includes the hall in the background can be found here:
https://picturestocktonarchive.com/2006/01/09/a-london-bound-express-approaching-eaglescliffe-st/
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can see the hall, outbuildings and suroundings on this 1945 over-head image too:
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_106g_uk_481_rp_3027
LikeLiked by 1 person
Jmayuk – thank you so much for posting. I’ve spent many a night scrolling through google with very little luck and now 2 pictures all at once!
LikeLike
You’ve opened pandoras – found a couple more
– https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_541_23_rs_4194
– https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/record/raf_540_642_rp_3086
LikeLike
The mentions here that Witham Hall was just a farmhouse give rise to speculation that it may not originally have been called Witham Hall. After all the ‘Hall’ on the end of Sion Hill (near Thirsk) is a relatively recent addition, possibly to make it sound posher. (My mother was a housemaid there in the 30s.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great photo. Looks like the top row of windows may have been bricked up at some time and the whole elevation rendered. Window tax wasn’t abolished until 1851
LikeLike
Hello – I went on an adventure to find Witham Hall. Needless to say it wasn’t the easiest to access/find.
Heres what I found during my research/adventure.
1) Witham Hall was originally was just a house surrounded by farmland (see map from 1855)
https://maps.nls.uk/view/102341779
2) In the early 20th century (est 1900 – 1912) a quarry was opened and at some point it had a fancy tennis court installed (The tennis court and quarry are not visible on the map dated 1898 but are in 1913). Also a train line was linked from Eaglescliffe to the Quarry – you can see it in the 1913 pic (P.S I found this abandoned line during my adventure)
– 1898 = https://maps.nls.uk/view/120939315
– 1913 = https://maps.nls.uk/view/120939318
3) Prior to the WW2 things at Witham Hall havent changed to much but the area surrounding is seeing a growth in new houses and amenities
– 1938 = https://maps.nls.uk/view/101100611
4) Likewise in the 1950s things are still pretty much the same but the area of Eaglescliffe continues to develop
– https://maps.nls.uk/view/91629705
5) I cant find it but the ordance survey in 1970s shows a huge change in the Eaglescliffe area “Baby Boomer time” and Witham Hall is demolished in 1974 (Sad)
During my adventure I found the path leading up to the bridge on the opposite side to Witham hall – its padlocked and massively overgrown by nature. The bridge itself is demolished. I think it was demolished around 1998/2000. I’ve seen pictures taken from the bridge in 1997 but its long been demolished. The side in which Witham hall was located the bridge is near enough invisible. Its overgrown with trees, path covered in moss, cans of beer that had a best before date 12/09/1999 (LOL) and was a nightmare to get to – rewarding once I found it. I walked down from the top of the bridge to the bottom and Witham Hall should of been directly in front of me. What I found was a massive hole in the ground with a metal fence. I think the Quarry was extended onto the land where the hall used to be once it was knocked down in the 1970s. I found the place beautiful. Its weird how it was the centre of the area hundreds of years ago. Now is totally lost and isolated and separated from the booming Eaglescliffe area. There is nothing left of Witham Hall. The one thing I did find is if you look on each picture there is a hedge that backs on the south of the house and runs next to the Tennis courts – that hedge is still there 🙂
LikeLike
Hi James a very interesting post, like you I also went on a bit of an adventure not to Witham Hall but to try and find a property where my grandmother’s family lived back in the early 1900’s “Battle House”. Her maiden name was Mable Bone Mud she married my grandfather Harold Moffat Jacques Brown Kidd of Ash Tree Farm Stockton (see post on Ash Tree Farm in Agriculture and Farms area of this site). Battle House is also shown on the 1898 map, I drove and walked around Preston on Tees for an hour trying to find a way over the railway line alas as you state not possible as the bridge that originally gave access to Battle House and Witham Hall was demolished. I eventually found that you have to go through Marshall’s off Durham Lane to get to Battle House, it actually now belongs to Marshall’s and is leased to the present occupants. Unfortunately, of course, the house is not anything like it was in the early 1900’s being modernised now with UPVC windows all round, shame. As you can see on the 1913 map the old Preston on Tees cricket ground was next to Battle House and we still have a silver fruit bowl presented to the Mud family from the cricket club for services rendered.
LikeLike
Hi Stuart – Thanks for your post. Battle House – very interesting. I saw it in the distance during my adventure! Tried to find pictures via google but no luck. Amazing how there was a cricket ground between Witham Hall and Battle House. On one of the maps you can make out the small pavilion building. Wonder which building is the oldest – Battle Houses or Witham Hall?
LikeLike
Hi James – definitely Witham Hall is older as no Battle House shown on the 1855 map, I’ve also not been able to find any old pictures or why the name Battle House? Will have to do a little more research.
LikeLike
It’s a great picture! looks like there’s not a level or straight line in the place 🙂
There’s such a high roof line above the first floor windows, I wonder if staff were accommodated in the loft space?
Location: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=54.53307&lon=-1.34898&layers=168&b=1&marker=54.533084,-1.349906
Visible in these 1932 images:
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW038903
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW038904
LikeLike
I’m showing my ignorance but hadn’t realized there’d been a Witham Hall, which presumably wasn’t visible from the main road. I do remember Witham Avenue and the bus stop named after it, where we caught the X99 when visiting relatives in the Bedale area. We moved to Billingham in 1954, when I was 7, and the bus just whizzed past. I used to like standing at the front and trying to count the cats’ eyes! No chance – they were too close together!!
The pic looks late Victorian or Edwardian.
LikeLike
Hi Pat, Witham Hall was on the other side of the railway line, so you wouldn’t see it from the main road. It was accessed from Witham Ave. via a bridge over the railway, which you can see in the BFA images linked in my previous comment.
LikeLike
Thank you, JMAYUK, you’ve solved the mystery of why I couldn’t see it on the aerial photo: I was looking on the wrong side of the main road! Witham Avenue is quite clear though, as is Beechwood Road, Elm Road etc. We lived in Lilac Road, so handy when I started school in January 1952.
(Is there anyone here I may have known? I was Patricia Buttle in those days. I remember twins called Pat and Pam, an Eric, David Elstob, Nigel Smiles, Philip Hill, Robert Butler, Joyce Liddle and my best friend, Judith Wray. They would all be 75 now. Also, from Sunday school at All Saints, a Valerie, who didn’t go to Preston-on-Tees infants/juniors. Robert, Judith, Joyce and I sat together in the back corner of the classroom in the first year. Judith is the only one I saw again after moving to Billingham in May 1954. I have more memories of that time but they’re not relevant here.)
LikeLike