Kidlandlee: the Highest Mansion in England (NT911099)

Kidlandlee is now a sprinkling of old outbuildings high in the Northumberland moors 3 miles north of Alwinton – some of them having been redeveloped, others are in the process of being brought back to life. But the substantial, and now long-gone, building you see above was once the centre-point of the remote estate. It was known simply as Kidland, or Kidlandlee, and, though it looks like a mansion, it was, in fact, merely a shooting lodge.

In its Edwardian heyday, Kidlandlee was the highest ‘mansion’ in England at almost 1,300ft. It was constructed in the 1890s by Christopher J.Leyland, whose prime residence was Haggerston Castle a little south of Berwick. Leyland was an inveterate builder of big things and lavished his wealth on both his main home and this incredible recreational lodge in the foothills of the Cheviots. Some say that the construction of the lofty lodge was the result of a bet to build the highest mansion in the land!

Having bought the plot from the Hon F.W.Lambton, he set about building his little summer house – which ultimately was to consist of two halls, dining room, drawing room, smoking room, 13 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. Externally, there were several outbuildings together with a man-made lake and a croquet lawn.

After Leyland’s passing in the mid-1920s, his son, hampered by crippling death duties, sold off much of his father’s estate, including the Kidlandlee mansion. It fell into the hands of the Lee family, but by 1950 it had become unmanageable and the decision was taken to demolish it. It was spectacularly destroyed in 1956 by explosives, leaving a few outbuildings intact. Around the same time planting began of the surrounding Kidland Forest, which now gives the spot an even remoter feel, it still only being accessible by forest tracks.

Note: Leyland made a name for himself as the man behind the Leylandii tree (see here), and also as the captain of the pioneering steam turbine, Turbinia.

Haggerston’s Place in Horticultural History (NU043435)

Many who visit the caravan park at Haggerston are somewhat disappointed at the paltry remains of the old castle. A tower and rotunda are all that survive of the edifice today – both Grade II listed buildings, but somewhat swamped and degraded by their current predicament.

The structure’s original inhabitants, the de Hagardstons, supposedly came over with the Conqueror. A castle is known to have existed at least as far back as 1311, but a succession of fires have blighted its history leaving historians bereft of much in the way of paperwork on which to base their work. It is speculated, however, that there was a stronghold of sorts occupying the site from the late 1100s. In subsequent centuries the old place passed down and through a succession of landed families – you know, the usual story – but the original name stuck, which is more than can be said for the castle walls themselves.

The 1880s saw the Haggerston estate pass into the hands of one Christopher John Naylor; and when the said individual later inherited his uncle’s fortune he switched his name to C.J.Leyland and moved from his Powys home up to Haggerston. From 1893, Leyland set to work revamping the castle/house and gardens, which included the planting of six new hybrid trees called Cupressocyparis Leylandii, which had been recently developed on a small scale by his brother back in Wales.

Another fire (in 1911), and Leyland’s death (in 1926) hastened the almost complete demolition of the castle – and its sale – by the mid-'30s. However, Haggerston’s great legacy became a horticultural one. In 1925, a firm of commercial nurserymen rediscovered the old leylandii, recognised their potential, and began marketing them as Haggerston Grey leylandii. Other nurseries – as well as the Forestry Commission – jumped on the bandwagon, enthused by the tree’s fast-growing properties. Many other hybrids have since been developed, and it was for many years the biggest selling item in every garden centre in the UK.

So if you’ve an issue with your neighbour’s rampant hedge, blame Northumberland’s Haggertson Castle, and its overzealous former owners.