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C17 farmhouse (the front doorway could be as early as the second quarter of C17), which originated as a two-bay house, consisting of a parlour and kitchen, separated by a wooden or timber and lathe screen. The kitchen was connected to a narrow single storey unheated room, probably used as a scullery. This communicated with the outbuildings on the east side, which were probably used for animals. The building would have been lower than at present with a roof of cruck beam construction. In the early19th century the farmhouse was remodelled. A first floor was added to the scullery and the level of the whole was raised, as indicated by the presence of dressed sandstone upper quoins. The wide stairwell dates to around the 1820s. A timber sash window was inserted to light the stair. A brick chimney was added to the top of the original stone stack. Fireplaces were inserted in the first floor rooms. A Regency fireplace and grate survives in one bedroom. The south-east range of outbuildings were built at this time. The roof level of the east range was raised, using the original cruck trusses from the farmhouse. Windows and doors were inserted into the North Street frontage of this range. Further alterations including asbestos roofs were added in late19th century and C20.

Designed by the Newcastle architect A.B. Gibson and built for the Corporation at a cost of £17,887. The hospital opened in September 1888 on an 11 acre site previously used as agricultural land - "Calf Close". The hospital was one of the first to be built on the single storey pavilion system and was set in gardens. As early as 1896 it was recognised that the hospital would soon prove too small to cope with potential demand. Ground was acquired for two additional pavilions. These and other unidentified buildings are shown on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. In 1905 the hospital extended northwards where a large brick-built nurse's home was built. This was extended in 1932 by the addition of two return wings. In 1908 two new pavilions, two observation wards were added. The hospital could accommodate 176 patients. By 1940 the hospital had virtually reached the full extent of its development with the addition of further wards west of the nurse's home. The geriatric wards east of Benfield Road were converted from temporary First and Second World War buildings. There was some new building after this time, including the Chapel, dedicated in 1961. As built in 1888 the hospital could accommodate 105 patients. There were five separate pavilions, each containing 22 beds. One pavilion of 33 beds catered for scarlet fever. The original hospital buildings included an entrance lodge on Little Benton Road, an admin block, patient's laundry, stable for the horses which drew the ambulances, a block for steam disinfecting apparatus and a mortuary. In 1908 two more pavilions and two observation blocks were added, giving an additional 71 beds. The admin block was enlarged and the nurse's home built. During WW1 two temporary pavilions were added on the east side of Benton Road. These remained in use during WW2 and were converted into a geriatric unit in 1953. In 1916 a 62 bed sanatorium for TB cases was opened. In 1929 a new 44 bed block for female TB cases was opened, giving a total bed capacity of 338. During 1930 a number of alterations were made, including a new boilerhouse and chimney. Modernisation started before the outbreak of War continued in the 1950s. Open wards were converted into cubicles, and in 1953 a 30 bed Ear, Nose and Throat ward was created and an outpatient department. In 1956 an Ophthalmic Unit was added to replace the old Eye Hospital in St. Mary's Place, demolished to make way for the Civic Centre. By 1960 the hospital had a polio unit and a department for skin disease.

Longbenton West Colliery was opened by the Grand Allies in the later 1740s, a northwards advance from their Heaton Banks Colliery to exploit relatively untouched areas of the High Main Seam in Longbenton. A map of 1749 (Watson 20A/9) shows the colliery, with the waggonway branching to eight dispersed pits. The map also includes very valuable illustrations of pit-head buildings and coal waggons. The southern portion of the line is shown on a map by Isaac Thompson within Hope-Dodds 1930, 436 connecting with route 30 to the south and running to the River Tyne at Wincomblee. The central sector of the line is conjectural. Exactly how it negotiated the grounds of Little Benton House is not known, although Thompson shows the line curving sharply to the west just as it ran from the Walker Estate. Also shown on Thompson's 1745 "Map of the township of Walker". It runs through open fields belonging to Sharper's House Farm called "Benton Nook", "Sore Bellies" and "Calf Close". It is possible that by 1745 this was already a disused route as it is referred to as an "old wagonway" in a lease of 1744 of a shop in Walker. By 1788 the wagonway had disappeared. An archaeological evaluation in September 2003 in the grounds of Walkergate Hospital, recorded the truncated remains of the embankment and trackside gullies. The embankment, made of imported industrial waste, lay directly below the grassed surface and was 6m wide, and had been truncated by ploughing. The track bed and timber sleepers would have been above present ground level. There were drainage gullies either side of the embankment. The western gully was 3m wide and 1m deep. It had been re-cut and maintained throughout the use of the wagonway. The eastern gully was 5m wide and 1m deep. A 1m wide ledge was into the western slope - perhaps a walkway?

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Observation Post