Seaham Hall review: serenity on the coast in County Durham

Former haunt of Lord Byron is pure poetry when it comes to spa options in the north-east

Seaham Hall
The Georgian country house is located on Durham's Heritage Coast
(Image credit: Seaham Hall)

"Serenity now!" is the phrase that first came to mind when we were invited to visit the Serenity Spa and stay within the imposing surroundings of Seaham Hall just outside Durham. In the American sitcom "Seinfeld", the put-upon George Costanza finds himself yelling the phrase in order to keep his cool. Thankfully at Seaham Hall there is no need for any extra help to remain cool, calm and collected.

The history of Seaham Hall is fascinating. It was first built in 1791 by Ralph Milbanke, then in 1815 Milbanke's daughter Anne Isabella married the poet Lord Byron at Seaham Hall. Although the marriage lasted only a year, the couple did produce a child, Ada Lovelace, the mathematician and pioneer of computing. Byron's portrait hangs impressively in the dining room – a reminder perhaps of one of his more famous quotes: "Eat, drink, and love; the rest's not worth a fillip." Other famous guests to stay at the hall include the Duke of Wellington and former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

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Jamie Timson is the UK news editor, curating The Week UK's daily morning newsletter and setting the agenda for the day's news output. He was first a member of the team from 2015 to 2019, progressing from intern to senior staff writer, and then rejoined in September 2022. As a founding panellist on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, he has discussed politics, foreign affairs and conspiracy theories, sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. In between working at The Week, Jamie was a senior press officer at the Department for Transport, with a penchant for crisis communications, working on Brexit, the response to Covid-19 and HS2, among others.