US visitors make a trip to Sunderland's Hylton Castle - built by an ancestor - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

An American family with ancestral links to Sunderland's Hylton Castle have paid a visit, with the younger members getting to see the building - which was recently restored - for the first time

Transcript

00:00 A family from the east coast of America has travelled thousands of miles to come and visit

00:04 Hilton Castle, which was built by an ancestor of theirs.

00:07 It's been a first chance for the younger members of the family to see the place at all, and

00:10 for the older ones to see it since its restoration.

00:12 I'm John Pratt, we live in Kittery, Maine, spent most of our lives across the river in

00:20 New Hampshire.

00:23 My mother, who was totally addicted to genealogy, caused me to get more addicted.

00:32 My wife and I visited the castle four years ago, and we wanted to bring our daughters

00:39 and grandsons, but with COVID that got delayed.

00:45 This is just a thrill to let them, I just hope they get the same feeling in this building

00:52 that I did.

00:55 It's to know that, in my case, it was my 18th great-grandfather who built it.

01:04 Later my 9th great-grandfather established the first permanent settlement in New Hampshire,

01:13 and it was the 7th in America, back in, somewhere around 1623.

01:23 This Hilton Castle, it was part of our family who built it back in 1390.

01:30 He's our 19th grandfather, and he was a fisherman, and he had the 7th settlement in America,

01:39 and the 1st in New Hampshire.

01:41 I didn't think it was going to be this big, and then in my mind I was thinking, I wonder

01:53 what everything looks like inside, like what we're able to go in and whatnot.

01:58 My favorite part was definitely the roof, by a lot.

02:02 I thought it was kind of beyond a field, like not near anywhere.

02:09 You know, if we get the word out that this has been restored, increase the number of

02:19 tourists here, the community will prosper.

02:26 I'd like to see that happen, because these people have really stepped up in a big way,

02:32 and I'm delighted.

02:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]

US visitors make a trip to Sunderland's Hylton Castle - built by an ancestor

Category

Transcript

Recommended