Benwell Grove

Land purchased in 1811 by Anthony Clapham, soap manufacturer for £3069. This included three fields Turnpike Field, Sunderland Field and Glebe Field. Benwell Grove, designed by Dobson in 1816, in the present area of Normount Gardens and Benwell Grove Road. Sold 31st March 1834 to the barrister H.C. Cooke who lived their with his family until his death in July 1870. Two of the children (Henry Cooke and Eliza Cooke) continued living at the house until its demolition in 1899. The estate was sold to Messrs Thomas Hills Forsyth and James Forsyth for £17,700. It was the Forsyths that formed a plan to develop the area for housing. Some of these houses have been demolished but the majority of the terraced streets remain.