Welcome to the Friends of Historic Dilston Home Page. We are a new organisation, launched 24 February 2007, to promote awareness of Dilston Castle and Chapel, in Northumberland, and run fund-raising events on the site, which is situated approximately one and a half miles south west of Corbridge. By joining the Friends you can support Historic Dilston in a number of ways. You can simply attend our programme of talks and events or you may wish to play a more active role, working as a guide, running a particular activity or generally helping around the site. One of the benefits of becoming a Friend is that you will have free access to Historic Dilston whenever the site is open.

The Friends of Historic Dilston has been set up to support the North Pennines Heritage Trust, the owners of the historic site, who restored Dilston Castle and Chapel in 2002-3, with grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage. The restoration of the two scheduled ancient monuments was made possible through a partnership with MENCAP who have a college in the same grounds. Friends will be working closely with the staff and students from Dilston College, who run a café for visitors and help man the site during the week. At weekends the site is manned by an attendant from Historic Dilston, backed by volunteers.

Dilston’s beautiful setting, the picturesque backdrop of the castle and the fine acoustics of the chapel make the site ideal for a range of activities and events. In recent years events have included open-air dramas, historical re-enactments, a flower festival, painting and drawing days, storytelling, paranormal investigations, poetry readings and music in the chapel.

Dilston Castle and Chapel opened to the public in June 2003, following the completion of Phase One of an ongoing project, aimed at preserving the whole of this ancient site, which takes its name from the Devil's Water, a tributary of the River Tyne. Earthworks of the medieval settlement of Dyvelston were investigated during the archaeological work that took place at the time of the restoration of the castle and chapel.

Phase Two of the project is underway and involves archaeological and conservation work on the land beyond Dilston Castle – the area stretching down to the Devil’s Water. This includes repairs to the elegant 17th-century Lord’s Bridge and ornamental garden walling of the grand mansion that belonged to James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, demolished in 1768. A future aim of the Friends is to restore the riverside gardens to their former glory.

From June until the end of July, North Pennines Archaeology Limited is running a Summer School at Dilston, primarily to investigate the remains of the service block of a Jacobean manor house that was added to Dilston Castle c.1616. Friends are invited to take part in the dig or come along to watch the work in progress.

Please use the highlighted links as well as the top menu to navigate through this website. We hope you enjoy the site and look forward to seeing you at a Friends of Historic Dilston Event!

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