Northumberland landmarks on the Web

Citation

Blake, M. (2004), "Northumberland landmarks on the Web", The Electronic Library, Vol. 22 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2004.26322aag.005

Northumberland landmarks on the Web

Northumberland landmarks on the Webwww.collectbritain.com/galleries/grimm

A new Web site shows for the first time 200 year old drawings of Northumberland buildings that have disappeared or dramatically changed since the drawings were made by Samuel Hieronymous Grimm (1733-1794). The site features over 50 drawings by Grimm, the originals of which are in the British Library. The Web site is the result of a partnership between the British Library, the North East Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (NEMLAC) and Beamish Museum.

The drawings show famous Northumberland buildings including Warkworth and Alnwick Castles, Newcastle Guildhall and Hexham Abbey. A number of the buildings have undergone significant changes or disappeared since the drawings were made, and these works give viewers a rare chance to see them as they were over 200 years ago. The site also has a zoom facility, enabling users to focus in on the smallest details in the drawings.

Newcastle's Guildhall is shown before it received its familiar neo-classical facade in the 1790s. Grimm's drawings of Bamburgh Castle pre-date the building and restoration that took place over the following 100 years, dramatically altering the castle's appearance. Many of the images are accompanied by current pictures of the buildings, allowing users to appreciate the changes.

Grimm also drew many lesser known features. His drawing of the now lost medieval bridge at Dilston is thought to be the only image of the bridge. Also shown is a stile made from whalebone, that once stood near Howden Pans on the north shore of the Tyne. Other long-lost landmarks featured on the site include a row of Collier's Houses at Heddon on the Wall, and a windmill at Hexham that was demolished in 1826.

Swiss born Samuel Hieronymus Grimm made his living accompanying well-to-do patrons on their travels around England in the late eighteenth century, capturing their journeys in detailed pen-and-ink drawings. When Richard Kaye, his chief patron, became a Prebend at Durham Cathedral, Grimm followed him north and set out to record the buildings and landscapes of Northumberland.

"Samuel Grimm's beautifully executed drawings have been a great delight to us all. It's wonderful to be able to offer them to a wider audience and to let local historians see how Northumberland looked more than 200 years ago", said Stephanie Kenna, manager of the British Library's Co-operation and Partnership Programme. Rosy Allan, the Grimm Exhibition project manager and senior keeper at Beamish Museum, said, "Thanks to this partnership with NEMLAC, Beamish Museum and the British Library, these remarkable and informative drawings are now being made accessible for the first time to everyone".

The Grimm Drawings are from the Kaye collection at the British Library. The collection comprises over 2,500 drawings that Grimm made for Sir Richard Kaye. Kaye's career in the church elevated him from parson to Dean of Lincoln. As new posts took him around the country, Grimm followed, charged to record "everything curious", which he did for over 20 years.