North East

Seaton Delaval Hall to Holywell village trail

A barn owl in flight, with its wings outstretched. The background is blurry — A barn owl in flight over Holywell Pond Nature Reserve | © Callum Thompson Photography

Take a walk from Seaton Delaval Hall to Holywell village on this circular route that takes in signs of the landscape's agricultural past and historical coal industry along the way. You'll also pass by Holywell Pond Nature Reserve (managed by Northumberland Wildlife Trust) and Holywell Dene, a steep-sided woodland, along this route through the Delaval Estate.

Near to

Seaton Delaval Hall

Start point

Main gates at Seaton Delaval Hall, NE26 4QR. Grid ref: NZ322766

Trail information

View route

Print trail

Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

DistanceMiles: 6 (km: 9.6)

Short trail

DistanceMiles: 5.5 (km: 8.8)

Duration3 hours 30 mins to 4 hours

Not suitable for dogs

*Route on footpaths, bridleways and minor roads. For further details, please see Terrain section.
**Some inclines, stiles and gates. For further details, please see section marked Access.

Address
Seaton Delaval Hall, The Avenue, Seaton Sluice NE26 4QR
Directions via Google Maps
By train
West Monkseaton Metro 3 miles (5km).
On foot
Network of footpaths: Seaton Sluice (¾ mile/1.2km), Seaton Delaval (1 mile/1.6km), Blyth and North Tyneside.
By ferry
North Shields Ferry Terminal 8 miles (13km).
By bus
Arriva service X7 from Newcastle Haymarket Bus Station to Blyth every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays, stopping at Seaton Delaval Hall (connects with services to Whitley Bay and North Tyneside).
Arriva service 308 from Haymarket Bus Station to Blyth South Beach. Stops approximately half a mile away in Seaton Sluice.
Go North East service 309 from Haymarket Bus Station to Blyth Bus Station. Stops approximately half a mile away in Seaton Sluice.
Cycling
National Cycle Network route 1, cycle paths to local towns, villages, old mining wagonways, coastal paths.
By road
A190 passes main gates, linking to A193 coast road at Seaton Sluice.
From south: A19 from South Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside (tolls apply). Approximately 5 miles from Tyne Tunnel: Follow A19 to exit A1056 Killingworth/B1322 Seghill and follow signs for A190.
From A1 north/southbound: Exit Jct 80, follow signs for A19/A1068/B1318 Tyne Tunnel / Cramlington / Ashington / A189 Blyth / Seaton Burn. Follow signs for A189 Ashington then follow signs for A190.
Dogs
Dogs on leads are welcome on the trail and in the grounds of Seaton Delaval Hall (if visiting) but, with the exception of assistance dogs, are not allowed inside buildings or Delaval Playdium play area.
Car park
At Seaton Delaval Hall.
Toilet
Toilets available for visitors to Seaton Delaval Hall at Brewhouse Café, Carriage House and next to the North West Woods near the Delaval Playdium. Further public toilets in Holywell village.
Café
Brewhouse Café at Seaton Delaval Hall serves a range of drinks, snacks, light meals and sweet treats.
Pub
Pubs (not National Trust) in Holywell village.
Route on footpaths and bridleways with some inclines, stiles and gates. This route is not suitable for wheelchairs and may be challenging for people with reduced mobility.
Designated parking
In the car park at Seaton Delaval Hall.
Accessible toilet
Accessible toilets available for visitors to Seaton Delaval Hall at Brewhouse Café and Carriage House toilets. A full place to change with adult hoist is available in the toilets next to the North West Woods near the Delaval Playdium. Family toilet available next to the North West Woods near the Delaval Playdium.
Steps/uneven terrain
The route of the trail is uneven and there are steps, stiles and inclines along the way.
Total stages: 12
Total stages: 12
Start point
Main gates at Seaton Delaval Hall, NE26 4QR. Grid ref: NZ322766
Stage 1
Leave Seaton Delaval Hall by the main gates, turn left along the pavement and follow the estate wall round to enter the grounds of the Norman Church of Our Lady using the gap in the wall if the gates are closed. Once you've looked around, retrace your steps to the main road, noticing Hall Farm, which used to be called Village Farm, to the left. Stay on this side of the road and walk up The Avenue towards the modern Seaton Delaval village. Once known as the West Avenue, this road was the private approach to the Hall and was laid out by Admiral George Delaval in 1719. It was lined by four rows of lime trees, two to each side of the carriageway.
Church of Our Lady
Now a parish church, the Church of Our Lady was built as the chapel for the family at Seaton Delaval Hall and the churchyard was once part of the Hall's gardens. At the bend in the church drive notice the stone wall to your right. This is all that remains above ground of the original village of Seaton Delaval, which, in the Middle Ages, was one of the largest villages in Northumberland. People began to move away in the 16th century when the Delaval family preferred to run sheep on their farmland. This took fewer people to cultivate than crops, but the last nine cottages were lived in until 1959.
Stage 2
Immediately before the road to New Hartley, pause to look at the obelisk plinth, a reminder of what was once a tribute to Admiral Delaval. Stay on The Avenue for a few more yards until you reach a track on the left signposted 'Public Bridleway Holywell 1½ '. Until the 1960s there was a level crossing and signal box here. Turn onto the bridleway, which uses the line of the Avenue Branch of the Blyth and Tyne Railway.
A plinth and a disused railway
In the trees to your right, immediately before the road to New Hartley, is the plinth of an obelisk. This was raised to mark the place where Admiral Delaval, who had commissioned Sir John Vanbrugh to design the new Seaton Delaval Hall, fell from his horse in June 1723 and died as a result. In 1932 the obelisk itself was removed as a safety precaution by Hartley Main Collieries Ltd, whose mine workings ran underneath. As you walk, you'll notice that some of the fields have pools and ponds because of subsidence due to the mine workings below. Meanwhile, the bridleway you walk along follows the route of the Avenue Branch of the Blyth and Tyne Railway. This began life in 1861 and there was an Avenue station. There was another called Dairy House, but this may have been short-lived. The line closed in 1964 but the level crossing was still in place in 1966. The track is now used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders and goes all the way to Monkseaton Metro Station in North Tyneside.
Stage 3
After just over ¾ mile you arrive at two kissing gates facing each other up a few steps on each side of the track, with a yellow double-headed footpath arrow on a post to your left. Go through the right-hand gate and straight ahead along the footpath beside the field. In the next field, to the right, you will catch your first sight of Holywell Pond Nature Reserve. It is a large mining subsidence pond and is managed by Northumberland Wildlife Trust. The path winds left and right, then there is a public hide just to the right of the path. Continue past the hide until the path turns left and ends between houses. When you are onto the road turn right on the pavement and right again. Go straight up this road to a T-junction.
Stage 4
On your left is Strother Farm with its 17th-century house, thought to be all that is left of Sir Ralph Bates' manor house. In the field (private land) behind the manor house is a spring that was used by monks as they made their way between Tynemouth and Newsteads Abbey, near Morpeth – this is how Holywell was named.
Stage 5
Carefully cross the main road and go left down the pavement to enter the steep lane on the right, signposted 'Public Bridleway' with a Heritage Way arrow. This leads to the picturesque 17th-century Holywell Bridge, an important crossing over the Seaton Burn in a leafy setting on the historic route between Tynemouth and Morpeth. At this point you can cut the walk short by retracing your steps to Strother Farm and picking up the trail from step 8. For the full walk, cross over the bridge, turn right to walk up Holywell Dene beside the burn and, if you look back over your shoulder, you'll get a good view of the bridge. Stay on the bridleway as it veers gradually left away from the burn to fields where you see the roofs of Holywell Grange Farm ahead in the distance. Stay on the track as it bends right towards trees.
Stage 6
At the trees go right, waymarked with a yellow footpath arrow and a red Reivers Cycle Route arrow. Continue on the path as it runs downhill into Holywell Dene towards the burn, then veers steeply down to the right to reach a modern footbridge. Cross the bridge and turn right to walk downstream until the path turns left. Climb the flight of winding stairs up the side of the dene to a short cul-de-sac.
Stage 7
Turn right and walk up to the main road, cross carefully and walk right. On your left you'll pass a group of red-brick bungalows built by the Aged Mine-Workers' Homes Association in memory of the Holywell men who died in the First World War.
Historic pubs
Further on from the bungalows, on the opposite side of the road, you'll see the former 18th-century Smithy and Ye Old Fat Ox, known earlier as the Red Cow. In 1808 Thomas Bates, a renowned agriculturalist, bred a short-horn bull said to weigh 122 stone (774kg), perhaps the source of the pub's name. On the same side of the road as the bungalows is the Milbourne Arms, built in 1905. Milbourne Hall, near Ponteland, was home to a descendant of Thomas Bates. The pub replaced the 18th-century Half Moon whose stables survive at the rear.
Stage 8
Retrace your steps along Holywell Dene Road, taking a moment to examine the Art Stop, a repurposed shelter of 1957, and the adjacent noticeboard with information about the village.
Stage 9
At the end of the road go straight ahead, waymarked 'Reivers Off Road' and signposted 'Public Bridleway'. Soon you'll be able to see the Seaton Delaval Hall obelisk in the distance. Just before you reach a stone bridge go left down steps. These lead down to the Avenue Branch bridleway.
Stage 10
Go left, and when you arrive back at the kissing gates that face each other across the track, go to the right, marked with a yellow footpath arrow. Go straight ahead along the path to the other side of the field, where there's another waymark post.
Stage 11
The path ahead is on the track of a wagonway once used to carry coal across Holywell Dene to Seaton Sluice, but turn left along the bridleway through the metal gate, marked by a blue arrow on the post. From this track you get a good view of the obelisk, which is on private farmland and so isn't accessible. Keep an eye out for the view of Seaton Delaval Hall's south front. For much of the 18th century there was a South Avenue, similar to the West Avenue but leading the eye from the house towards the obelisk, itself placed there purely to catch the eye.
Stage 12
Continue along the track and past two more metal gates to take you in front of a terrace of houses. At the end of the bridleway you are back on The Avenue and should turn right to return to Seaton Delaval Hall.
End point
Main gates at Seaton Delaval Hall, NE26 4QR. Grid ref: NZ322766
Trail map
Map of Holywell Pond walk starting from Seaton Delaval Hall | © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey
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Place

Seaton Delaval Hall

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Trail

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The Avenue, Seaton Sluice, Northumberland, NE26 4QR

01912379100

seatondelavalhall@nationaltrust.org.uk

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Near to

Start point

Trail information

Difficulty*

Accessibility**

Full trail

Short trail

Getting here

Facilities

Accessibility

Terrain and elevation

Trail route

Total stages: 12

Total stages: 12

Start point

Stage 1

Point of interest

Stage 2

Point of interest

Stage 3

Stage 4

Point of interest

Stage 5

Stage 6

Stage 7

Point of interest

Stage 8

Stage 9

Stage 10

Stage 11

Point of interest

Stage 12

Point of interest

End point

Trail map

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