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This is the first floor landing of the derelict Tunstall Court in Hartlepool.

Built in 1899 by the famous shipbuilder and entrepreneur William C. Gray, the son of Sir William Gray also of shipbuilding fame, Tunstall Court was the Gray family’s main residence, though they did also own similarly sized properties in Yorkshire and Devon. As well as William C Gray and his wife, 7 other members of the Gray family occupied the building for nearly 30 years, with a staff of 12 to make sure their every need was looked after.

Tunstall House was also occupied briefly by the Furness family who were also hugely famous in the shipbuilding trade of the North East of England in the 19th and 20th centuries. This rich tapestry of shipbuilding history is evident in the ship motifs in the grand staircase, as well as other trades of the town being portrayed in the stained glass at the top of the same staircase.

In 1948 the ownership of the building was given to Hartlepool Borough Council who operated a number of initiatives from the building, such as using it as a training college for various trades including a secretarial college at one point. Sadly due to spiralling costs the council were forced to give up the property in 2002 due to a yearly cost of £165,000 for the upkeep of the land and its gardens.

Shortly after this a pilot scheme was launched by the Dutch company Camelot in which people were granted cheap leases of apartments in the building (£25 a week with all bills included, less than a quarter of an average for the area) in return for the occupants acting as security guards and keepers of the property, carrying out light maintenance and generally just keeping the property in a reasonable state of repair.

Again this scheme was short lived and Tunstall court closed its doors for the last time in 2006, and swiftly became the target of many vandals and arsonists, to the point where local police were having to complete patrols of the house and its grounds on a regular basis to move along anyone who was using Tunstall House as a recreation area. A few arrests were made but still the vandalism continued until eventually the house had to be clad in steel around the windows to prevent further access and damage.

As you can see, the interior has been comprehensively trashed by vandals, although some of the more out of reach original features have survived. Hopefully these will be preserved when the house moves into the next phase of its life as luxury apartments, with work scheduled to begin shortly.

I have used a bit of HDR in this shot, to bring out some of the textures.

Press ‘L’ to view on black (recommended by Reverend)

This shot shows remanants of the house’s use as a training centre.

Another photo from the studio session.

Another shot of my muse!

A bit of mono HDR.