Benton Hall was sometimes known as Little Benton Hall, Benton White House and Benton House. It was built c.1760 (the wings may have been added later) by Thomas Bigge, a coal-owner and brother of William (d. 1758), High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1751. Between about 1854 and 1858 the estate was converted into a public Botanical Gardens. The house lay north and west respectively of the present Coast Road and Red Hall Drive; it was unoccupied c.1900-1929 and demolished shortly after this for residential development.

Benton Park was built in the late 18th century with projecting wings linked to the main block by curving walls or arcades. It was owned by Dixon Brown and later Dixon Dixon of Longbenton and occupied by the former's son-in-law William Clark of Belford Hall, for whom Dobson in 1813 surveyed the estate. It was adjacent to Benton Hall, bounded approximately by the present Coast Road, Etherstone Avenue and Red Hall Drive. At this time known as Benton House and later referred to as Red Hall or even Benton Park Hall, it had become by 1838 the residence of John Potts, a coal-owner, and by 1871 of Edward Liddell (1815-79), formerly of Jesmond Park. It remained in the possession of the Liddells until c.1897, after which it was unoccupied before becoming a Golf Club after the First World War. It was demolished during the 1930s for residential development.

This was situated in Shield Street, overlooking the 'Shield Field' (HER 5471), where Charles I was allowed to play 'goff' while imprisoned in Newcastle during the Civil War, resting at the house. Photographs show it to have been a three-storey 3-bay brick-built house with Dutch-gabled dormer windows and a steeply pitched gabled pantile roof with earlier slates evident in places. Robert Gilchrist, poet, died in this house in 1844. It was owned by Alderman Sir Richard Walter Plummer in 1917, who presented it to the Council to ensure its prservation. It was finally demolished in 1960 and the area was redeveloped with high rise flats {1}. A bronze tablet mounted on purbeck over the front entrance read "THIS HOUSE, IN WHICH ROBERT GILCHRIST THE NEWCASTLE POET DIED IN 1844 AND IN WHICH KING CHARLES I RESTED WHEN HE PLAYED GOLF IN THE SHIELDFIELD, WAS DEVISED TO THE LORD MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND CITIZENS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE BY THE LATE ALDERMAN SIR WALTER RICHARD PLUMMER D.C.C 1917". The front entrance doorcase and door which were present in 1959 were C19 {12}.

Originally the Elswick estate was held by the Jennison family, who made their first purchase of land there in 1640. Sir Ralph Jennison, a successful Newcastle merchant, continued to add to his holdings during the Protectorate, buying up several of the surrounding farms. The subsequently-enlarged estate was sold by his great-grandson, who preferred to live at Walworth Castle in Durham. The purchaser was John Hodgson, an affluent cloth merchant, and a considerable colliery owner along the banks of the Tyne. His father had settled in Newcastle in 1671, the family having originated from Brough in Westmorland. The purchaser's grandson, John Hodgson III, commissioned the rebuilding of Elswick Hall in 1803, the year of his marriage to Sarah Huntley. The father and son partnership William and John Stokoe of Newcastle were chosen as architects. John Hodgson died in 1820, leaving Elswick to his son, another John, an MP for Newcastle and enthusiastic supporter of the development of the city. He sold the estate in 1839 to Richard Grainger, who made it his home for a short time. Grainger paid £114,100 for the Hall - it was the single largest purchase he had made. Grainger planned to create an industrial suburb at Elswick with quality residential accomodation. The purchase almost bankrupted him and it was sold in lieu of payment to his creditors. In the 1860s the manufacturer Christian Allhusen lived there. Eventually the estate came back on the market for sale as building plots. The sale never went ahead as a number of Newcastle worthies banded together and bought the estate, passing it to the City Council for use as a public park. Elswick Park was opened to the public in 1881. For some years the house was used to display the work of the local sculptor J.G. Lough (1798-1876), designer of the Stephenson monument in Newcastle. Later, however, rising running costs forced the Council to abandon the Hall and it was eventually demolished about 1980 and a swimming pool constructed on the site {1}.

Little trace of Benwell Hall, which was situated on the north side of Ferguson's Lane, west of the junction with Gretna Road, remains today. The only clues to its existence are a few mature trees which were retained as part of the sheltered housing development which occupies the Hall's former site. Benwell Hall was built of brick, probably during the second half of the 18th century for the Surtees family. Farrier suggests that the date is likely to be in the 1770s. Later extensions were added during the C19, possibly to the designs of Dobson. The original house was symmetrical, two storeys in height and five bays wide with a double string course separating the ground and first floor; the later additions on either side of the original block are clearly discernible on photographs. The house stood in wooded grounds and was approached by a long winding drive. In front lay a large lawn with flower beds and a short flight of steps leading to second, lower lawn. William Surtees, son of the Newcastle banker Aubone Surtees and the brother of Bessie Surtees who eloped with John Scott, later Lord Eldon, was resident in the house in the 18th century. According to Mackenzie, by the 1820s it was occupied by the chemical manufacturer William Cuthbert, who was to commission Dobson to build Beaufront Castle in 1836. Some time afterwards, the Hall became the home of the merchant William Cookson and later of the Liddell family. Cuthbert Liddell, a merchant, passed the estate to his son John Liddell, a colliery owner who was resident in 1873. His son, another John, initially lived at Benwell but moved to Prudhoe Hall in 1897. Benwell Hall was then leased to John Burdon and sold in 1924 to William Bramble. Around this date some of the land was sold off to provide a sports field for Vickers Armstrong which eventually passed to Newcastle United for use as a training ground. William Bramble died in 1948 leaving six daughters, the last of whom died in 1980. Despite considerable public opposition, the house was demolished in 1982 after plans to convert it into executive apartments failed.

This was built for John Walker of Wallsend shortly before 1825 on the south side of Benwell Lane. In 1848 it was sold to the tanner Jonathan Priestman, having been let to John Cookson, another industrialist. The historian Mackenzie admired its garden, which was "large and tastefully laid out with a fountain and jet d'eau". In 1879 the house was sold to Edward Bilton and in 1901 to J. Lamb Ltd., brewers, after which it became the Benwell House Hotel nicknamed 'Lamby's'. Bought by Rowell's in 1924 for £18,500 and modernised four years later. A side extension was added in 1937. A manager in the 60s commented that the pubs safe was 'a huge cupboard with a steel door' which you could walk into. The Hotel closed in 1968 and the house was demolished in 1972. A Chapel of Rest was built on the site.

Built in 1844 {Farrier suggests date unknown} by William Hawthorn, a civil engineer, and sold to the coal-owner J.O. Scott in 1881, from 1906 to 1924 it was occupied by the industrialist Col. William Angus. It was one of many mansions in the then attractive village of Benwell, integrated into the city only in 1904. This house stood on the south side of Ferguson's Lane near the junction with Benwell Lane. In 1875 Hawthorns widow Ann continued to live in the cottage and later Miss Helen Hawthorn in the early 1880s. In 1909 Coloner William Mathwin Angus moved in and lived there until 1924. By 1925 the property was used as a hostel for male trainees to the Royal Victorian School for the Blind. At this time the estate extended to nine acres. Its had originally been 19 acres but over time various pieces were sold for the construction of the reservoir and new pumping engine. In the 1930s, more was sold to the Newcastle Corporation for residential development. In the 1950s the remainder of the estate was sold to the Corporation and the buildings became used as a Civil Defence Corps Training Centre until 1968. The house was demolished in 1972. Sheltered housing now stands on the site.

This Jacobean-style house was pulled down in about 1897, at which time it was owned by George Angus, a leather manufacturer. It stood south of Elswick Road, in grounds occupying approximately the site bounded by the present Beech Grove Road, Park Close and Westmorland Road, adjoining those of Elswick Hall (HER ref. 1864). Beech Grove had been the home of Edward Richardson (1805-63), another leather manufacturer. William Mather occupied it in 1861.

Mowbray Park occupies 7 hectare. It is divided by the railway cutting it into two halves; Mowbray Extension Park to the north and Mowbray Park to the south. The original site, at first known as People's Park, was acquired by the Borough in 1854/5 as part of the development of the railway. The gardener to Lord Londonderry, Mr Lawson, and Joseph Smith who had worked at Chatsworth were responsible for laying out the park, which opened in 1857 and was later renamed Mowbray Park. In 1866, an extension north of the railway opened, known as Mowbray Extension Park. The two halves of the Park are linked by a cast and wrought iron footbridge erected over the railway cutting in 1866. The Extension Park was overlooked by a vast Winter Garden built in 1879 on the site of the present library, but it was damaged by bombing in 1941 and demolished in 1942. In addition to its gardens and walks, features of the park include a cast iron drinking fountain (dated 1878), a bowling green with pavilion and a tennis court, and a portion of medieval arch from Bishopwearmouth Rectory. Statues include those of John Candlish (1815-74), MP for Sunderland; General Henry Havelock (1775-1857) by Behnes, 1861; and Jack Crawford (1775-1831), by Percy Wood, 1890. REGISTERED HISTORIC PARK.

Houghton Hall was the manor house of the original village, a tall square forbidding building of the early C17, two-and-a-half-storeyed, with no gables, the straight parapet (though later) no doubt part of the original design. Four bay façade with four-light mullioned windows and a quasi-classical door surround (triangular hoodmould like a pediment with an oval window below it above the four-centred door). The same doorcase on the side and back elevations, but with mainly three-light windows. The back is three-bay with two-light staircase windows in the centre. Ground-floor room with upper panels arcaded and an overmantel with strapwork {1}. Surtees records that local tradition credited the Parliamentarian Robert Hutton (d1680) with erecting the Hall, although Surtees himself thought the character of the building suggested that an ealier Robert Hutton, rector of Houghton 1589-1623, was the builder. The later Robert was buried in his own orchard, either due to his Puritan views, or, according to local tradition, to his wish to be buried alongside his favourite horse. The tomb seems to have been removed to the churchyard in the mid C20. The manor descended through the Hutton family until the C19. Ralph Anderson lived in the Hall around 1834. The Hutton family sold it in 1839. In 1841 Ralph and Grace Anderson lived in the Hall with their 6 children, John (farmer), William (farmer), Grace, Ralph (surgeon), Margaret and Shadforth. John Anderson (now a proprietor of houses) lived there in 1851. By 1855 he had moved to Market Place with his mother, brother William (High Constable) and sisters grace and Margaret. Fordyce records that it was then the home of George Elliot, colliery viewer to the Marchioness of Londonderry, later Sir George Elliot, MP (died 1861, buried in Houghton Hillside Cemetery). In 1861 Houghton Hall was occupied by his widow Margaret Elliot (nurse), their children Margaret W, Elizabeth, Alice A, George W, Henrietta, their nieces Mary A P Elliot and Mary L Green and Elizabeth Younger, housekeeper. On 29 September 1861 the 20 year old Elizabeth died when her dress caught fire. On 8 October 1865 Elizabeth Younger died from disease of the liver. The staff then comprised Mary Mattewson, cook, Elizabeth Atkin, house maid, Mary Watton, lady's maid and Thomasine Lawson, kitchen maid. In 1881 the servants were Andrew Bell (gardener and domestic servant), his wife Jane (house keeper) and son John. In 1891 Alice Parkin, Elizabeth Younger's daughter was housekeeper. Alice's granddaughter Jane Parkin was a servant. In 1896 the Martin family lived in the Hall. In 1899 Selwyn Austin occupied the Hall. In 1901 the Hall was unoccupied. By 1902 the house was occupied by a Mrs Atkinson. Subsequent editions of Kelly's directory do not record it as being the home of any named private resident. In 1917 the Hall was bought by Houghton Social Club for £1,030. The extensive grounds included apple and pear orchards and a bandstand. The building was listed in 1950. Pevsner (1953) wrote, describing the entrance as 'covered up by a recent wooden porch and a brick structure marked 'Gents'. In 1964 a new social club was built in the grounds facing onto Hall Lane. It opened in April 1965. In 1967 the YMCA took over the tenancy of the Hall. They bought it in 1971 for £2,500. Modern extensions were demolished and the original entrance was restored. The John Edwards Sports Hall was built at the rear. During this work early fabric and features were revealed. In the mid 1990s the YMCA vacated the building. The building was added to the Buildings At Risk Register. From 2001 it has been a private residence again.