The Castle at Castle Eden

Castle Eden

For the similarly named castle in Aberdeenshire, see Eden Castle.Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene...

 is an 18th century mansion house and a Grade II* listed building. No trace remains of the medieval castle of Robert de Brus.

The Burdon family of Castle Eden had their origins in Stockton on Tees where the first Rowland Burdon was mayor nine times in the 17th century. His greatgrandson Rowland Burdon III, a merchant banker, purchased the manor of Castle Eden in 1758, and in about 1765, with the assistance of architect William Newton

William Newton (architect)

William Newton was an English architect who worked mainly in Newcastle on Tyne and the North East of England.He was the son of Robert Newton, a builder...

 built the house which came to be known as The Castle. The house has three storeys and a seven bay entrance front.
The central three bays are canted and the whol carries a castellated parapet.

His grandson, Rowland Burdon V, was Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for County Durham

County Durham (UK Parliament constituency)

Durham or County Durham was a county constituency in northern England, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1675 until 1832.- History :...

 1790-1806 and his son Rowland VI, was resident in 1861 and recorded in the Census of that year as a farmer of 352 acres (1.4 km²). In 1881 the Census records the resident as Rev John Burdon a widower with two children and ten servants.

In about 1863 the entrance frontage was enhanced by the addition of a single storey six bayed palmhouse and in 1893 a north wing was added.

Later Rowland Burdons served as High Sheriff of Durham in 1872 and 1907.