Millfield House, Jesmond Dene

Millfield House is well-known to visitors to Jesmond Dene as it now serves as the visitor centre and rangers’ headquarters. In 1870 it was owned by a Newcastle banker, Robert G. Hoare, who commissioned the architect Frank W. Rich to build an extension on the west side and it is from this period that the name ‘Millfield House’ came into use. The three storey brick house is built on an L plan with a slate roof. The account for the 1876 extension by Frank West Rich is in the Armstrong archive in Tyne and Wear Archives. Millfield House is unconnected with the industrial and commercial site of Busy Cottage (with the possible exception of some masonry ni the cellar). The building is of interest because of its quirky additions made by an architect known for showy structures, and as a well known landmark in the parkland of the Ouseburn Valley. LOCAL LIST