Mansion House, Newcastle upon Tyne

Municipal building in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England

The Mansion House

The building in 2007

Location| Fernwood Road, Newcastle upon Tyne
Coordinates| 54°59′05″N 1°36′15″W﻿ / ﻿54.9847°N 1.6041°W﻿ / 54.9847; -1.6041
Built| 1880
Architectural style(s)| Gothic Revival style

Shown in Tyne and Wear

The Mansion House is a historic building in Fernwood Road in Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, a city in Tyne and Wear, in England. The building, which accommodates the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, is a locally listed building.[1]

## History

[edit]

The first mansion house in Newcastle upon Tyne was a building on the Quayside which was built in brick and completed in 1691.[2] Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany was entertained at the old mansion house in August 1795.[3] By the mid-19th century it was in a dilapidated condition and it was used as a timber warehouse for a while until it was burnt down in 1895.[4][a]

The current structure was commissioned as a pair of private villas. The site selected by the developer was on open land on the north side of Fernwood Road.[6] The two villas were designed in the Gothic Revival style, built in rubble masonry and were completed in 1880. The villa of the left was named Kelso House, while the villa on the right was named Thurso House.[7] The design involved a main frontage of six bays (three bays for each villa) facing onto Fernwood Road. The left hand bay of Kelso House and the right hand bay of Thurso House were gabled and projected forward as pavilions. The right hand bay of Kelso House and the left hand bay of Thurso House (these bays adjoined each other) were fenestrated by bay windows on the ground floor and by bi-partite windows on the first floor and were surmounted by gablets, while the centre bays of each villa were fenestrated by bay windows on both floors but castellated at roof level.[1][8]

Kelso House was originally the home of James Pyman, who was a shipowner.[9][10] By the early 20th century, it had become the home of John Tweedie, who was a manager at shipbuilders, Wigham Richardson, and his son, George Frederick Tweedy, who was a director of shipbuilders, Swan Hunter.[11]

Meanwhile, Thurso House was originally the home of a local shipping merchant, Benjamin John Sutherland.[12] When the opportunity arose, in the early 20th century, the Sutherland family acquired Kelso House and amalgamated the two villas into one structure. A porte-cochère was added onto the front of the former Kelso House. In 1918, Benjamin's son, Arthur Sutherland, became Lord Mayor of Newcastle. He used it to host lavish parties and on his death, in 1953, he gifted the house to the city.[1]

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the mansion house, inspected a guard of honour from the 4th / 5th Battalion of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, and had lunch there with civic leaders on 29 October 1954.[13][14] A Nobel Peace Prize, which had been presented to former Foreign Secretary, Arthur Henderson, for his work on disarmament in 1934, was stolen during a burglary at the mansion house in April 2013. A lock of hair, which had belonged to Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood, who was second-in command of the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805, was also stolen.[15][16]

Prince Andrew, Duke of York chose the building, in September 2015, for the launch of a campaign by the Children's Foundation, of which he was the patron,[17] to help young people to improve their mental health.[18] As well as being the official residence of the lord mayor, the building is used for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies.[5]

Works of art in the mansion house include a portrait by Frank O. Salisbury of Sir Arthur Sutherland[19] and a portrait by Alfred Priest of Arthur Henderson.[20] There are also two paintings by James Wilson Carmichael, one depicting Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Granton Pier in Edinburgh[21] and the other depicting a cutter in distress to the south of Dunstanburgh Castle.[22] There are also paintings by Henry Perlee Parker depicting local celebrations associated with the coronation of George IV[23] and the coronation of William IV and Adelaide,[24] and two paintings by Charles Napier Hemy, one depicting some fishermen trawling[25] and the other depicting a scene at Falmouth, Cornwall.[26] There is additionally a painting by Thomas Miles Richardson depicting the sheriff's procession to meet the judges in Newcastle.[27]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The old mansion house was on the West Quayside, roughly where the Copthorne Hotel is now.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Tyne and Wear HER (9898): Jesmond, Fernwood Road, Mansion House". Tyne and Wear Archives. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
2. ^ Oliver, Thomas (1831). A New Picture of Newcastle-upon-Tyne: or, an historical and descriptive view, etc. T. Oliver.
3. ^ A Popular History of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Comprising Remarkable Events; Ancient Fortifications etc. Alkexander Laws. 1862. p. 64.
4. ^ Middlebrook, Sydney (1950). Newcastle Upon Tyne Its Growth and Achievement. Newcastle Journal and North Mail. p. 261\. "Old Mansion House was used as a timber warehouse until it was destroyed by fire in 1895"
5. ^ a b "See inside the Lord Mayor's official residence, with stories ranging from the Queen to ghosts". Chronicle Live. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
6. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1850. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
7. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1885. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
8. ^ Barke, Michael; Hancox, Kayleigh. "Case Study: South Jesmond Conservation Area, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK" (PDF). Northumbria University. p. 19. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
9. ^ Kelly's directory of Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North and South Shields, and suburbs. 1883. p. 53.
10. ^ "Pyman, J., Captain 1914". North East War Memorials. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
11. ^ Blue Book of American Shipping Marine and Naval Directory of the United States; Statistics of Shipping and Shipbuilding in America. Vol. 15\. Marine Review Publishing Company. 1910. p. 391.
12. ^ Natural History Transactions of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Vol. 9\. Williams & Norgate. 1888.
13. ^ "Programme for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Newcastle". Tyne and Wear Archives. 29 October 1954. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
14. ^ "Archive footage of The Queen in the North East (1954)". British Pathé. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
15. ^ "Nobel Peace Prize medal stolen in Newcastle". BBC News. 3 April 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
16. ^ "City's heritage stolen in raid on Lord Mayor's official residence". Chronicle Live. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
17. ^ "More charities cut ties with Prince Andrew". Civil Society. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
18. ^ "Duke of York visits Newcastle to launch £2m Children's Foundation campaign". Chronicle Live. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
19. ^ Salisbury, Frank O. "Sir Arthur Munro Sutherland (1867–1953), Bt, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Royal Grammar School". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
20. ^ Priest, Alfred. "Arthur Henderson (1863–1935), Nobel Peace Prize Winner". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
21. ^ Carmichael, James Wilson. "Her Majesty Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, on Board the 'Royal George' Yacht, Approaching Granton Pier, Edinburgh, on the Morning of 10 September 1840". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
22. ^ Carmichael, James Wilson. "A Cutter in Distress to the South of Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
23. ^ Parker, Henry Perlee. "Sandhill Wine Pant, Coronation of George IV". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
24. ^ Parker, Henry Perlee. "Fancy Dress Ball in The Mansion House, Coronation of William IV". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
25. ^ Hemy, Charles Napier. "Trawling". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
26. ^ Hemy, Charles Napier. "Falmouth, Cornwall". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
27. ^ Richardson, Thomas Miles. "The Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sheriff's Procession to Meet the Judges". Art UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.