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Benwell is an area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Contents |
History of Benwell
Benwell village was recorded in A.D. 1050 known as Bynnewalle which roughly translates as "behind the wall" or "by the wall". Referring to its position relative to Hadrians Wall (next to which was the Roman Condercum fort, hence the nearby Condercum Road). At this time it was part of the Barony of Belbec.
By the Thirteenth Century the medieval manor of Benwell had been subdivided, originally into two, but then one of the halves was further subdivided. So, although people usually refer to the three sections of Benwell Manor as ‘thirds’, this gives a misleading impression, because one of the ‘thirds’ was larger and wealthier than the other two. This third belonged to the Scot family, who were wealthy merchants from Newcastle and by 1296 they were the principle taxpayers in Benwell. the Scot family later went on to create a deer park in 1367, which later became Scotswood.
In the Sixteenth Century Benwell village was arranged in two rows of houses on either side of a wide street or green. A plain oblong tower, three storeys high with battlements around the roof was also recorded as being built.
In 1540, the crown (Henry VIII), took possession of Benwell Tower from Tynemouth Priory when it dissolved the monasteries.
Early in the 1600s, Benwell was split into smaller estates which were bought by the Shafto and Riddell families who were merchant families interested in exploiting the coal reserves on the banks of the Tyne.
The original layout of Benwell exists in the form of Benwell Village, Benwell Lane, Ferguson's Lane and Fox and Hounds Lane however no buildings still exist other than from the early Nineteenth Century. The tower from the Sixteenth Century was rebuilt in the Eighteenth Century and then all traces were removed when the present hall, Benwell Towers was built in a Tudor style by John Dobson (architect) in 1831. Benwell Towers featured in the BBC television show Byker Grove.
Famous Residents and Facts
- Alan Robson MBE (born 17 April 1943) is a British radio presenter who presents the late night phone in show, NightOwls on Metro Radio, a local commercial station in the North East
- Richard Grainger who built the markets, The Monument, Grainger Street, Theatre Royal and Grey Street is buried in St James’ Churchyard in Benwell.
- William George Armstrong / Lord Armstrong (hence Armstrong Road in Benwell) started up munitions production after 1850 which created the demand for the terraced housing in Benwell.
- Joseph Swan established the world’s first electric light bulb factory in Benwell. The factory supplied the lights for Mosley Street in Newcastle which was the first street in the UK to be lit by electric light.
- John Buddle was a local mining engineer, who invented and developed the means of mining coal deeply and thereby began the industrial development of the area in the early 1800s. He is commemorated in "Buddle Road".
- Richard Scott, the son of John Scott, bounded 200 acres of land to make a deer park. This has been attributed as the origin of Scotswood.
- R.T. Atkinson was a successful engineer who owned High Cross House, that once stood around the current area of Elswick Road and the corner's of Maria St., Caroline St. and St. John's Road. Hence the origin of Atkinson Road.
- William Surtees had Benwell Hall built. He was the brother of Bessie Surtees (made famous by her elopment with John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon)
- Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher was born in Benwell in 1903 and lived at 142 Clara Street. Using the name Rudolf Abel he was arrested in New York in 1957 as a Soviet spy and was the person exchanged for Gary Powers, the pilot in the U2 bomber incident, in 1962.
Politics
The area is represented on Newcastle City Council as part of the of Benwell and Scotswood ward, with three Labour councillors, including Sir Jeremy Beecham,the former chairman of the Labour Party and the Local Government Association. He was first elected for Benwell in 1967.