Jesmond Dene, Banqueting Hall

1860-62 by John Dobson for Sir William (later Lord) Armstrong as a dining and entertaining room for his international clients and other guests to his estate, as his house was too small for large-scale entertainment. T-plan. Rock-faced sandstone on rubble plinth and 2 courses of pecked ashlar. Roofless. One high storey. Double door. Fanlight with substantial glazing bars between Tuscan pilasters, with sidelights, set in high rusticated round arch. 3 tall windows at each side. Interior has polychrome brick walls. The niches once held statues by Lough. The building included an ante room used as a gallery for Armstrong's art collection. This room had a water-powered pipe organ which utilised water piped from the pond now in Paddy Freeman's fields. The pedestrian tunnels which led under Jesmond Dene Road from Armstrong's house to the banqueting hall still survive (HER 5719). After Armstrong moved to Cragside, the banqueting hall was used as a shelter for visitors to the park. A Gothic style gatehouse was added to the hall by R. Norman Shaw in 1869-70. LISTED GRADE 2