Northumbria is border country in depth. The Romans had a bumpy ride in their attempts to fix the limits of their empire and pacify the populous despite the extraordinary achievement of Hadrian’s Wall. After the Norman Conquest the region was supposedly within England but was subject to frequent Scottish incursions and effectively ruled by a handful of clans beyond the writ of the English Crown. To this day castles characterise the region more than country houses, and yet those houses that exist share an austere aesthetic, and nowhere more so than Belsay Hall.

But perhaps the most striking and alluring consequence of its buffer-zone heritage is the landscape. Remote and sparsely inhabited, ruffled by majestic undulations and etched with dry stone walls, rugged uplands mixing with picturesque farmland, Northumbria has some of the most enthralling scenery in all England. Such marginal land was a magnet to monastic foundations, and outstanding mediaeval church architecture is another feature.

And yet, by extreme contrast, the region became one of the powerhouses of the industrial revolution. The Tyneside conurbation has some of the most fascinating cityscapes in Britain, from the dramatic late Georgian terraces at the centre of Newcastle to Ralph Erskine’s Byker Wall. Beyond the city, wealth and innovation led to the great Victorian country estate such as Norman Shaw’s Cragside.

Northumbria was far larger than the (relatively) modern counties of Northumberland, Durham and Tyne and Wear. This tour presents a grand sweep of history, architecture and landscape by selecting the finest sights in an itinerary that is balanced in content and pace. It is led by an architect, one-time resident of Northumbria and one of our most experienced lecturers.