The Berners Family of Woolverstone

Do you now the real story about the Berners' Monkey? Do you know where most of the Berners' fortune came from? Would you like to know more about their lives and what each contributed to our beautiful Peninsula?

When the Geoffrey Berners sold the Woolverstone Hall estate in 1937, it covered 10 square miles of beautiful unspoilt countryside, 6,042 acres, in seven parishes on the Shotley Peninsula. The story of how the estate grew from 350 acres in 1773 is part of the story of our Peninsula.

Our part of the Berners' story starts in the age of Elizabeth 1 and Shakespeare, around 1600, and stretches to just before WW2. Their story is one of judicious investment, fortuitous inheritance and profitable marriage. Many of the villages on the Peninsula were shaped by the Berners family. With their wealth they built farms, houses, village halls, extended churches and shaped the roads across the Peninsula.

It is hard to understand the Shotley Peninsula without understanding the story of the Berners family.

Why not find out about their real story: "The Berners Family of Woolverstone."

You'll probably be surprised.

Join us for an illustrated talk that takes you on a journey from 1600 - 1937.

Tickets still available for both Thursday and Friday night. Starts 7:30 pm. Finish around 9:30 pm. With intermission.

Tickets priced at £10.00 p.p. Includes a glass of wine.

Simon Pearce. Author "The Astonishing Story of Mary Alice Berners"