Q: While travelling through Luxembourg last summer I passed through a small town called Clervaux which had a castle of the same name. I recall that there used to be a Clervaux Castle near Croft. Do you know if there is any connection between these two places? - J.Jackson, Darlington

A: Clervaux Castle was built on a small hill near Croft-on-Tees sometime between 1834 and 1839. The builder was Ignatius Bonomi of Durham City, an architect of Italian descent, who constructed the castle for Sir William Chaytor. Bonomi's other famous achievements in the north included Burn Hall near Croxdale and the Skerne Railway bridge near Darlington. He was also for a time the official architect of Durham Cathedral.

Bonomi's clients on this occasion were the Chaytors, a family with connections in the area that go back several centuries. The connection between the Chaytors and Clervaux can be traced back to the reign of Elizabeth I, when a certain Christopher Chaytor of Butterby (near Shincliffe, Durham) married Elizabeth Clervaux, the owner of the manor of Croft.

The castle was built in Norman style with six square towers, 12 bedrooms and four reception rooms. It was occupied by the Chaytor family until 1831 when the family decided to use Croft Hall as their primary residence. In 1950 the castle was sold to the Baharie Brothers of Sunderland and dismantled so the stone could be used in the construction of roads.

The Clervauxs from which the castle took its name had arrived in Britain in the Norman era, when a certain Sir Hammon Clervaux accompanied William the Conqueror on his invasion of England. It was during the reign of Henry III (1207-1272) that the family obtained the verdant agricultural lands in the vale of the Tees at Croft.

As with many Norman surnames of the era, the name Clervaux probably derives from a place. It is likely that it originates from one of three places in France called Clairvaux, the most famous of which is situated between Troyes and Rodez. There is of course a difference in spelling between Clairvaux and Clervaux, but there are a number of instances in which names that begin with 'Clair' (meaning 'clear') have become 'Cler'. This does not, however, discount the possibility that the Clervaux family may have originated from the place called Clervaux in northern Luxembourg.

Published: Monday, January 14, 2002

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