Rokeby Park, Barnard Castle
County Durham in Historic Houses UK

Completed in 1735 by its owner, Sir Thomas Robinson, a leading amateur architect of his day, Rokeby Park represents the heyday of the Palladian-style country house.

A unique collection of 18th century needlework pictures by Anne Morritt (1726 – 1797) are on display as well as a very rare surviving print room. Velásquez’s ‘Toilet of Venus’ hung at Rokeby for almost a century until it was bought by public subscription in 1905 and now hangs in the National Gallery. A copy of the ‘Rokeby Venus’, painted by W.A. Menzies, can be seen in The Saloon at Rokeby.

There are strong connections with Sir Walter Scott, whose epic ballad Rokeby is set in the “beautiful demesne” of Rokeby Park, which visitors to the house can discover for themselves. A recently restored painting, now on display in the dining room, is the only known contemporary painting of the Coronation of Louis XIV.