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A set dining table with a view of the garden

About Brinkburn & Our Heritage

Brinkburn is a place
to share

Situated in a secluded wooded ravine on the banks of the river Coquet in Northumberland, Brinkburn is one of the most exquisite backdrops in Northumberland.

Our History

The perfect place for people to rest, reflect and celebrate for thousands of years

An archway that is attached to an large old building

5000 BC

It is fair to say that there have been people living at Brinkburn for a very long time with the oldest habitation being a promontory Iron Age fort, a defensive structure located above a steep cliff. Anyone who has visited Brinkburn will be able to recognise this unique topography.

Some large trees at the edge of a calm river

700 AD - 1100

Reference to Brinkburn can be found in lists compiled as early as 700AD. A document from the mid 10th to late 11th century called it Brincwele. The well on the Brink. This makes more sense as a place name as there are plenty of springs here and no burns.

A small stained glass window at the edge of a grand church halllway

1100 - 1500

It’s assumed that a religious house was founded at Brinkburn in the 8th Century, however the current Augustinian priory was established no later than 1135 in the reign of Henry I.

Some large trees standing over a cottage roof

1600 - 1700

The Fenwick family has many links to Brinkburn with George Fenwick being born here in 1603. It was purchased by Sir John Fenwick whose main estate was Wallington Hall. John was a prominent Jacobite, plotting against the King and getting into numerous troubles, eventually selling the family estate in 1688.

A small wooden fence standing next to some bushes

1700 - 1800

After this period, the Fenwick’s connection with Brinkburn was broken. The property went through several different hands before coming into the ownership of Joseph Hetherington in 1790. His niece’s great granddaughter, Eleanor Cadogan, married Hugh Fenwick and the connection with the Fenwick family was reinstated.

Two grand buildings standing side-by-side

1800 - 1900

Eleanor Cadogan’s father, Cadogan Hodgson Cadogan, began the building of the Manor House in the 1830s and the restoration of the priory in 1858. It is this period of building and restoration which leaves the Priory and Manor House as we see it today, and the wider extent of buildings across the Estate.

A couple on their wedding day standing in front of a shabby-chic internal wall

1900 - 2000

Eleanor’s grandson Hugh Anthony Cadogan Fenwick inherited the property in 1960 after his uncle Lancelot Fenwick. By this time, the Manor House was derelict. His solution was to donate the property to English Heritage who currently look after the buildings. The wider estate is still owned by Hugh Anthony.

A cottage front with climbing plants and fairy lights along the roof

2000 - Today

In 2007 Mark Fenwick and his wife Emma started to restore and repurpose the Stables and the buildings around the Home Farm as a wedding and holiday accommodation business.