The FitzClarence gates at Letham Hill have been reinstalled at Etal Manor after a six month absence for essential restoration work. Ollie Green, of Kelsey Metal Work in Greenlaw, undertook the restoration work as the gates had suffered considerable wear and tear; they were first installed some two hundred years ago.
The gates were commissioned by Lady Augusta FitzClarence, owner of Etal Manor from 1821 to 1876, as a surprise for her husband Lord Frederick FitzClarence, Lieutenant-General in the British army and an illegitimate son of King William IV.
Sadly, Lord FitzClarence did not see this gift as he succumbed to illness while serving in India in 1854 and never returned. In her grief, Augusta did not open the gates and they have never been used as an entrance since.
Augusta and Frederick are buried with their only daughter in nearby St. Mary the Virgin, Etal.
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