Chattlehope

Image: © Andrew Curtis Taken: 13 Feb 2019

"The Chattlehope we see today, sitting in ivy-trimmed isolation on the shore of Catcleugh Reservoir, dates from 1901. An engraved date-stone on its frontage proves it. But parts of the house are much older, and have moved in space as well as time. The original Chattlehope Farm was built when Queen Anne, not Queen Victoria, ruled, but its original site is now under fathoms of water. Old fashioned features – such as the triangular 'eyebrow' pediments above the three front windows – were probably among the stone salvaged when Chattlehope had to be moved out of the way of the Catcleugh Reservoir. In 1899, it was agreed that desperate measures were needed to improve the water supply for sprawling Tyneside. A new reservoir was needed, and the Chattlehope valley in Redesdale was chosen for sacrifice." 'Breeding ground of a terrier', Hexham Courant, 30th November 2009 The date stone above the door records the rebuild in 1901, while within the pediment are inscribed stones with the initials G.H. and E.F. which came from the older house. They refer to Gabriel Hall, High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1706, and his wife, who owned Chattlehope as part of their huge Redesdale Estates. Elsdon Lairds by J. C. Hodgson in History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (1914)

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