Washington Old Hall is in the village that the ancestors of George Washington (1732–1799), are named after. It was built on the medieval foundations of the Washington family’s home in the early seventeenth century by Francis James, the youngest son of William James, Bishop of Durham, to whom the manor had been sold. It was saved by the Washington Old Hall Preservation Committee in 1936, who introduced a variety of features to the fabric of the building and presented it to the National Trust in 1956. In 1975, the Earl of Antrim, Chairman of the National Trust, visited America to present to the American people a 25-year lease in title of the Old Hall as a goodwill gesture at the start of the Bicentennial celebrations of American Independence. The Stars and Stripes still flutter four times a year: on 22nd February (George Washington’s birthday); 4th July (Independence Day); the first Monday in September (Labour Day); and the fourth Thursday in November (Thanksgiving).