Seaham Hall

I’m standing in milady’s boudoir, a room which would have delighted Liberace. Here, nothing is de trop and everything is geared towards lavish indulgence. Two enormous freestanding baths face the window, giving exhibitionists a heaven-sent opportunity to disport in the altogether. The upstairs bed could comfortably accommodate four adults. Portraits of Ada Lovelace — who has given her name to the suite — festoon the staircase, and a half bottle of Taittinger champagne begs ‘Drink me’ in an ice bucket. It’s somewhat strange to think that amid this bling lies a sad and brutal history.

The small coastal town of Seaham in County Durham, contains the house in which Lord Byron contracted the 19th century’s most bizarre marriage. Seaham Hall was the home of Annabella Milbanke, an heiress, whom Byron proposed to almost on a whim; he saw her as the answer to his financial woes. He was also engaged in a torrid affair with his half-sister Augusta.