The house from a 1778 engraving
House & Family History: Streatlam was a seat of the Bowes family, whose most famous member, Mary Eleanor Bowes, married the 9th Earl of Strathmore in 1767. Mary Eleanor was succeeded at Streatlam by her son, the 10th Earl of Strathmore, whose illegitimate son, John Bowes, founded the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle. Streatlam Castle was sold by the Bowes family in 1922, after which it suffered a series of indignities. The contents were sold in 1927, after which part of the house was demolished. The British Army occupied the remains of Streatlam Castle between 1939 and 1945, after which it was abandoned. In 1959 the shell of the house was blown up as a training exercise by the Territorial Army. An armorial ceiling from Streatlam Castle is today housed in the Bowes Museum in County Durham.
Collections: The contents of Streatlam Castle were sold at auction in 1927.
Architect: Thomas Shirley
Date: 1720-26John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: 2.S. Vol. I, p. 58, 1854.
Country Life: XXXVIII, 836, 1915.
Title: Gibside Guidebook
Author: NA
Year Published: 1999
Reference: pg. 32
Publisher: London: The National Trust
ISBN: NA
Book Type: Light Softback
Title: England's Lost Houses From the Archives of Country Life
Author: Worsley, Giles
Year Published: 2002
Reference: pgs. 10, 187
Publisher: London: Aurum Press
ISBN: 1854108204
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pg. 921
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Lost Houses of County Durham
Author: Meadows, Peter; Waterson, Edward
Year Published: 1993
Publisher: Yorkshire: Jill Raines
ISBN: 0951649418
Book Type: Softback
House Listed: Demolished
Park Listed: Not Listed
Past Seat / Home of: Sir George Bowes, until 1760. Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, 1760-1800; John Bowes, 10th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, 1800-20; Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, 1820-46; Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 12th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, 1846-65; Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, 1865-1904; Bowes family here until 1922.
Current Ownership Type: Demolished
Primary Current Ownership Use: Demolished
House Open to Public: No
Historic Houses Member: No