This noble residence may well have been the first to be built on the former grounds of Birtley House. It is grand and imposing, dwarfing the nearby (also Locally Listed) former lodge house, and enhances the streetscene beautifully in warm honey-coloured sandstone. From the outside it is completely unspoilt, delightfully embellished with art nouveau detailing, but in a design context firmly characteristic of the area, with the use of sandstone rather than the brick more common at this time. The cyclopean rustication and cill bands offer a depth and texture to the stonework, with articulation added by the elegant castellated bays. The timber fenestration, too, is fine, with nouveau stained glass toplights to the ground floor windows, and simple but refined upper windows with the typical pattern of multipanes to the top sash and single panes to the bottom. The small-slated roof crowns the composition, complete with bracketed eaves, intermittent looped ridge tiles, and in particular especially decorative mock half-timbering, with a different, curving design to the front gable from those at the side. A slender stair turret to the western end forms a punctuation mark to the design, and the whole is enclosed by matching low walls, with chamfered copings and finely made gate piers. The mature landscaping, too, offers an appropriate setting for the dwelling, with various trees, shrubs and hedging to the eastern boundary. The house was inhabited by Bertram Bolam, for whom it was presumably built, but by 1925 Joseph Edwin Lowther was in residence. MATERIALS Cyclopean rusticated sandstone, slate, clay ridge tiles, timber DATES by 1906 LOCAL LIST

High Lodge was built as one of 2 lodges to Birtley House (the other one being at 18 Durham Road) by Augustus Henry Hunt, marking the main entrance to the house from Birtley Lane. This family was very important in the village, and was responsible for many buildings, including Talbot Cottages. A single storey lodge building, it is constructed of sandstone ashlar with solid carved lintels, cills and jambs. The roof is low-pitched and slated with a small gable to a porch, both having decorative wrought iron ridges and black painted barge boards and gable pinnacles. There is a large central stone chimney. The solid stone porch is flanked by trios of windows, with another trio to the ends. MATERIALS Sandstone DATES 1864 The other lodge to Birtley House is now Bimbi’s on the main road. LOCAL LIST

Now premises of Gateshead Youth Offending Team. This prepossessing red brick building is a grand example of a former police station. It exhibits not only all the eloquence of its original architecture, but also many internal features of special interest, including the small, narrow cells which clearly express its historic function. The original 4 over 1 timber sashes still grace the openings, which are gently arched at ground floor level, and dressed in sandstone with sills and decorative lintels. The string courses linking these emphasise the horizontality of the composition, whilst the principal elevation is appealingly lively (in curious contrast to its function), animated as it is by shaped and coped gables, oculus windows, chequerboard jamb stones to the 1st floor and elaborately moulded door canopies. The steep slate roof crowns the whole, finished with chimneys harmonious is proportions and detailing. The architectural similarity with the former River Police Station at Pipewellgate, also on the Local List, is striking MATERIALS Red brick, sandstone, slate DATES c1910 LOCAL LIST

This late 18th/early 19th century public house has a manicured appearance and a strong horizontal emphasis. The elegant, long pub frontage is neatly divided into 6 bays. The traditional style is very unusual as it retains timber casements with multipane lights, a deep panelled stall riser and heavy cornice supported on a profusion of ornamented scroll brackets. Its rich, deep paint colours distinguish it from the cream render to the upper storey and the rest of the building, where there are timber sashes, and stone detailing picked out in grey. The low pitch of the slate roof adds to this linear effect, which is likely to have arisen from the location of the building along a through road to take advantage of passing trade. LOCAL LIST

St. Wilfred's Presbytery. A substantial 19th century 2 storey house originally built for a Mr France, this building has an imposing presence on the street. Its steeply pitched welsh slate roof is intricately formed with hips and a delicate finial to the protruding front bay. 3 buttressed and corniced chimneys ascend from the ridge. The snecked stonework has a strong visual impact due to the dark colour resulting from pollution and weathering, which is in itself part of the story of the area in which it was built. The solid surrounds to windows, the large quoins and the door surround divided by thick mullions all contribute to the overall impression of solidity. The windows are now an assortment of sashes and casements in timber, but some stained glass panels elevate the building above the ordinary. MATERIALS Sandstone, slate, stained glass ARCHITECT Austin & Johnson DATES 1868 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE A solid and attractive stone house, which retains some original features and is also noteworthy as one of the few substantial stone properties in the area. LOCAL LIST

This attractive single-storey lodge in snecked stonework is part of the suite of buildings at Gateshead East Cemetery. It was built when the cemetery was extended in around 1895, at the new entrance to Sunderland Road, to designs sympathetic with the ‘house style’ established at the main cemetery buildings to the west. It picks up on the feature fishscale banding seen on the chapel buildings, upping the ante with diamond detail above. The mouldings to the window surrounds echo those to those on the Superintendent’s House (Fairhaven Lodge), only here they are shaped of solid lintels, cills and jambs, rather than individual stones. Although it is more modest in terms of size than the other lodge, it is certainly a quality build, and uses the older buildings as inspiration without replicating any of them. On plan it has a main range facing north, with a wing at right angles to the south. It retains 2 over 2 timber sashes with slim glazing bars and horns - in all likelihood original to the property – and a timber porch has been built onto the north side, with decorative bargeboards, rails and brackets, and a slate roof to harmonise with the main roof. Curiously it has a datestone that has never been inscribed. Altogether an endearing building, and perhaps the most visible of the cemetery buildings as it fronts a main road. MATERIALS Sandstone, slate, timber DATES c1895 The date of the extension has been gleaned from looking at the cemetery registers and noting when the numbered plots first appear. A plot plan of the cemetery (available at Cemeteries and Crematoria Reception) shows lettered plots and numbered plots, with the layout making it clear that the original plots were lettered, and those within the extension numbered. The original part was built on 3 fields visible on the 1st edition OS, with the later part built on the site of Claxton’s farm, at the same time as the Recreation Ground was created, and presumably the remaining land sold for the housing on Wordsworth Street and the St James and St Bede Church. A plan of the bandstand for the Recreation Ground was found dated 1894, which would also confirm this date. The architect and builder could in all likelihood be discovered through perusal of the Committee minutes for the time of the extension, which would be TWAS CB.GA/8/3. Also advertisements in the Gateshead Observer of the period may shed further light. LOCAL LIST

This elaborate drinking fountain must have been provided for the Recreation Ground, as it is situated at the entrance, almost certainly established around 1895 from the same land as that from which the new cemetery extension was carved. It may have been provided by the Rector of Gateshead, as was the one on Old Durham Road on the other side of the cemetery, implied by the religious legend: ‘Add to thy faith virtue and to virtue temperance’, and the fact that originally the other fountain also had such a legend. The nature of the materials and fittings is also similar: a description in the Gateshead Observer refers to those of the former as ‘carried out in freestone, and fitted with a cast metal basin sunk into the stone with brass finishings’. The stepped corbel-like stone base to the basin resembles that of the much more worn one on Old Durham Road, but here the similarity ends. It is set in a low plinth wall and rises high above it, making it quite prominent, and is made up of 3 elements. The central section originally housed the tap, but only part of the backplate to this now remains, flanked by 2 decorative moulded stars, all in an inset panel. Above this, the crowning glory of the fountain is an extravagant hood moulding, with foliate carved springing points, and a mock keystone at the apex of the arch displaying a stylised acanthus leaf. The legend, partly engraved in raised banners, is enveloped in this, resting on a line of pyramid moulding. MATERIALS Sandstone, metal (iron & brass?) DATES c1895 The date has been gleaned from looking at the cemetery registers and noting when the numbered plots first appear (a plot plan of the cemetery, available at Cemeteries and Crematoria Reception, shows lettered plots and numbered plots, with the layout making it clear that the original plots were lettered, and those within the extension numbered). The later part of the cemetery was built on the site of Claxton’s farm, at the same time as the Recreation Ground was created, and presumably the remaining land sold for the housing on Wordsworth Street and the St James and St Bede Church. A plan of the bandstand for the Recreation Ground was found dated 1894, which would also confirm this date. Advertisements in the Gateshead Observer of the period may shed further light on the history of this fountain, or committee minutes relating to the establishment of the Recreation Ground (possibly CB.GA/34/3). LOCAL LIST

A substantial stone structure constructed for the residents of Blaydon {2}. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
This fountain was one of two (along with X20/LL/227) given to the people of Blaydon by Joseph Cowen MP. Prior to this there was no safe, reliable water supply to the area, and these were used for a long time until there was a full piped supply. It is a testament to the social concern of this important political reformer. It apparently previously stood outside the Black Bull public house, and was fitted with a lamp fuelled by gas piped from Cowen’s lower yard firebrick manufactory (opened in 1838), which produced this gas as a by-product. This would have been an extremely convenient place to access. The road layout was changed in 1890, necessitating its removal to the current location.
The fountain is constructed in sandstone, and is square on plan, with curved basins forming ‘apses’ to each side, originally supplied by 2 spouts. It stands on a platform, with a simple chamfered plinth to the base, and a centrepiece carved plaque in a simply moulded inset with plain surround. The plaque is unfortunately very weathered, but appears to bear the Cowen family arms, set in a window panel, with floreate detail embellishing the frame. A massive pyramidal cap with ball finial surmounts the fountain, with the date carved beneath. The monument has been restored, with the jambs to the front apparently replaced, as well as the datestone. MATERIALS Black pasture (?) sandstone DESIGNER George Burn (?) DATES 1860 (opened Whit Monday) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The type of sandstone and the designer are speculative, based on the use of these in the slightly later Garibaldi statue also commissioned by Cowen. LOCAL LIST

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
This little sandstone lodge stands at the former entrance to Stella Hall – a grand Elizabethan mansion, which had been later altered, and was finally demolished in 1953. It is an important element of the remaining estate (also on the Local List), along with the Summerhouse, bath house, boundary walls, and the wider landscape. The original entrance was a little to the south (as shown on an 18th century map), and had a gatehouse, depicted with a square plan. The present lodge is situated approximately in the north east corner of the park wall, and must have been built when the entrance was changed to come from the north rather than the eastern road. This is likely to have been during the early to mid 19th century – perhaps contemporary with the advent of the Cowens to the estate in 1850, who may have desired an entrance closer to the staith. It certainly appears to be stylistically later than the simpler Stella Hall cottage (the former gardener’s house). The lodge is loosely “Tudorbethan” in style, perhaps to tie in with the design of the original house, as originally it had stone mullioned windows with diamond leaded panes. However, the elements of the design are rather eclectic, with a solid gabled porch featuring mini gable detail to the kneelers and apex, and squared voussoirs to the moulded, arched entrance. The fine, erect stone chimneys have distinctive battlement detail (also seen at Chowdene Lodge, though on a grander scale). It is a great pity that the a significant part of the character of the building has been lost by the removal, not only of the leaded lights, but also the stone mullions, to be replaced with highly inappropriate plastic windows with fake glazing bars. The replacement of the graduated slate roof with slates of even size has had less of an impact. The reinstatement of the mullions and leaded lights is a high priority for the future. Nevertheless, the dwelling is of importance to the estate, and makes a meaningful contribution to its group value and the historical development of the site. MATERIALS Sandstone, slate DATES c1850 LOCAL LIST

DESCRIPTION / STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
This 3 storey house was originally the station master’s house for Rowlands Gill Railway Station, and as such was one of the earliest buildings in Rowlands Gill. The local pale brick has a pleasing, warm, textured appearance, detailed with sandstone cills and attractive arched timber sash windows. These echo the 9-arch viaduct not far along the valley, which was built for the same railway line, and an oculus light adds to the curvaceous theme. The multi-plane roof is of Welsh slate with an unusual form consisting of a shallow-pitched hipped roof to the top with more steeply pitched single-plane eaves to north and south, decorated with brick chimneys. The western gable features a large square timber bay housing gently arched timber sashes, and crowned with a slated gable roof on simple timber brackets. The western portion has clearly been rebuilt and extended, although some original walling remains, and a white-painted timber lean-to style conservatory has been added, to the north elevation, supported on a brick plinth. Whilst ensuring that they are obviously new, attempts have been made to make these alterations and additions in sensitive design and materials. Therefore they do not detract significantly from the original eastern part of the building whose form is clearly apparent. The importance of the building lies in its historic connection to the now defunct railway, such a key instrument in the development of the area. It is also of architectural interest, with elegant proportions, and the use of a lovely warm, but pale, textured brick., and the distinctive roof form is also attractive. MATERIALS Pale brick, slate, timber DATES 1867 LOCAL LIST