{"id":25632,"date":"2017-11-09T20:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T20:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singleaspect.org.uk\/?p=25632"},"modified":"2025-11-22T12:34:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T12:34:59","slug":"posh-shops-schools-and-4x4s-students-in-tyneside-flats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/?p=25632","title":{"rendered":"Jesmond – schools, big houses, 4x4s, and students in Tyneside flats"},"content":{"rendered":"

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My walking route from Sainsburys High Heaton. Yellow pins points of interest, many missed though later research found them.<\/p>\n

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Armstrong Bridge<\/a> over the dene<\/p>\n

“Jesmond and Heaton are separated by Jesmond Dene, and it is indeed a very special good fortune for a large town to have a dene so close to its centre. The burn and its densely wooded banks belonged to the first Lord Armstrong, and he gave them to the City in 1883.” [1]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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I<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having parked at Sainsburys High Heaton I walked west through the Spinney and past the library then south via Jesmond Park West passing some big houses…<\/p>\n

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while bypassing Jesmond Park East through ignorance where stands<\/p>\n

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Wyncote Court\/Jesmond Park Court,\u00a0Jesmond Park East , NE7 (1970). Waring\u00a0and Netts Partnership.<\/strong><\/em>
\n M: Jesmond . This scheme,\u00a0which comprises 35 houses and 50 flats, consists of two-storey terraces cleverly arranged\u00a0to retain the existing trees and set them\u00a0within a series of well landscaped courts.\u00a0The design accommodates the motorcar in\u00a0small groups within garage courts and ensures\u00a0a quiet and pleasant pedestrian environment\u00a0( Fig. 3.41 ). [2]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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… (including one called Falling Water<\/a> – I didn’t look) to the east of the Dene until reaching Armstrong Bridge pictured above in sunlight.<\/p>\n

This was an unplanned visit in the sense that I knew Jesmond was west of Heaton and had identified C19th housing to look at but otherwise quite random carrying an A3 print of the C19th map below.<\/p>\n

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Once across the bridge I passed\u00a0Holy Trinity Church<\/a> by Hicks and Charlewood 1905. Tall W tower with spire, and Dec tracery.\u00a0[1]<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and along Osborne Avenue entirely missing the modern housing on Buston Terrace I might so easily have stumbled across …<\/p>\n

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Fenwick Close , Buston Terrace,\u00a0Jesmond , NE2 (1962\u20131964) . Brian Robson.\u00a0M: Jesmond . The existing Victorian house\u00a0on the site was converted to provide two\u00a0large family houses with 5 two-storey family houses and two smaller bungalows being\u00a0built in the grounds. The houses are remarkable for their copper-covered hyperbolic\u00a0<\/em>parabolic roofs, which gave clerestory lighting\u00a0within the deep house plan. [2]<\/a><\/em> no mention of the Barnados that preceded it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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…past the cricket ground before turning left into an alleyway emerging at the junction of Clayton Road and Akenside Terrace<\/a> where the first C19th housing begins.<\/p>\n

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I met the owner of the house on the corner<\/a> putting his bin out and he pointed out the streets I was looking for including Akenside Terrace nearby.<\/p>\n

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Akenside Terrace (part) I like the mottled bricks, my favourite in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

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At the bottom of Akenside Terrace is Newcastle General Cemetery which I missed…<\/p>\n

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… and All Saints adjacent.<\/p>\n

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Click both above for C19th maps<\/p>\n

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II<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the corner of Fernwood Road I asked a passerby for directions and he said “If you’re looking for old housing why not visit my house on Clayton Road, the Willows? It belonged to Mr Hunter of Swan Hunter.<\/a> If anybody asks what you’re doing tell them I sent you”. So I did.<\/p>\n

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Nice house, very large (would make a nursing home), as is the\u00a0house next door<\/a>. Next on the blue zoned map (see top) was Eslington Terrace which appears in\u00a0Faulkner, Beacock and Jones<\/a> dated 1909.\u00a0Forgive my Streetview representation<\/a>…<\/p>\n

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Another missed opportunity was Blythswood on the corner of Clayton Road…<\/p>\n

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…and Eslington Terrace again from Faulkner, Beacock and Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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…however I photographed a different, older, stretch of terrace further down towards the Metro here.<\/p>\n

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Eslington Terrace Jesmond 17:04 26\/9\/17<\/p>\n

The terrace above is in accordance with my NLS map research as C19th.<\/p>\n

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F, B & Jones<\/a>\u00a0list Jesmond Metro as a point of interest which one passes shortly before …<\/p>\n

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… the Grammar School which follows.<\/p>\n

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III<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJesmond was no more than a village up to the middle of the C19th when it became the residential suburb for the wealthiest inhabitants. The monuments reflect both these aspects.\u201d\u00a0[1]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I continued south to Jesmond Metro and was surprised by the number of school children on the streets just after 5pm and concluded after school activities must be popular. It is worth noting that some areas of the country can’t afford them and they are declining.<\/p>\n

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Royal Grammar School – Eskdale Terrace<\/p>\n

1907 by Sir Edwin Cooper. Friendly neo-Early-Georgian. Brick and stone dressings. Not high, various ranges connected by galleries. Central clock turret.\u00a0[1]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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I missed Jesmond Parish Church too.<\/p>\n

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Click above for a C19th map and try the blue slider at the top for a roads shock<\/p>\n

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As you can see from GPS tracks<\/a>\u00a0Brandling Village was next, passing the new Newcastle High building on the way.<\/p>\n

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Streetview – the Royal Grammar was the only one I photographed<\/p>\n

I also noticed a large number of 4x4s – see the two vehicles outside my photograph of the Royal Grammar School. Elswick<\/a> this is not.<\/p>\n

By Clayton Park Square I was feeling uncomfortable. The shops were getting posher, the 4x4s were more numerous and posh isn’t my thing, certainly not why I came to Newcastle …<\/p>\n

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Clayton Park Square in white brick (at the front)<\/p>\n

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Back of the terrace – kitchen \/ bathroom extensions<\/p>\n

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Posh shop & 4×4<\/p>\n

… and so it was with relief I returned to the back streets and headed north away from Clayton Park up Otterburn then Tankerville Terrace missing …<\/p>\n

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… on the way and found a footbridge over the railway line.<\/p>\n

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IV<\/strong><\/p>\n

This brought me to the southern end of St Georges Terrace on the western edge of the large blue zone of my planning map.<\/p>\n

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From that point on I passed several buildings featured in F, B & Jones<\/a> including the Methodist Church,\u00a0the branch library, and the pool (both library and pool reopened by the community) where I broke off to look at Tyneside flats<\/a> to the West in Glenthorn Road.<\/p>\n

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V – Back Lanes and hatches<\/strong><\/p>\n

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If there is one enduring image I will take with me from a few days looking at housing in Newcastle it is the back streets between the houses lined with bins and overlooked by the bathroom and kitchen extensions and the rear staircases of the upper Tyneside flats.<\/p>\n

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Tyneside flats in Jesmond<\/p>\n

… and from Instagram the lived experience …<\/p>\n

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@katyysmith<\/p>\n

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Missed those here …<\/p>\n

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… but all these streets have similar housing so nothing lost.<\/p>\n

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Continued North to the junction with Osborne Road<\/a> where I turned south (inadvertently missing three of Jesmond’s most important buildings<\/a>) and passed St Georges Church where I tried to take a photograph but was thwarted by trees.<\/p>\n

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Click above for C19th map<\/p>\n

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A very ambitious church built and furnished at the expense of Charles W. Mitchell, partner of Lord Armstrong\u2019s. He was a painter himself (the Laing Art Gallery owns a large picture by him) and had much to do with the design of building and decoration. <\/em><\/p>\n

Built in 1888 by T. R. Spence. E.E. but with a tall campanile of Italian outline at the E end of the S aisle. Very restrained in the details Tall interior with circular piers and large clerestory.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chancel with three lancets high above the altar. W end with low straight-ended projecting Baptistery and above two windows and the rest of the wall all stone-panelled. Expensive and tasteful decoration, very progressive in style for its date.\u00a0[1]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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VI<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further on I saw the Waitrose and fled in horror along Grosvenor Road opposite where the satnav battery ran out and the GPS track stops …<\/p>\n

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… I retraced my steps across the bridge to pick up the car at High Heaton.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>
\n1. The Buildings of England – Northumberland – by Nikolaus Pevsner and Ian A. Richmond 1957 rp 1974<\/p>\n

2. RIBA Book of British Housing – 1900 to the present day 2nd ed.<\/p>\n

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Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Jesmond emerges like my home city of Cambridge. The juxtaposition of the well off and middle class with a seasonal student population in the cheaper housing. And a lot of good schools.<\/li>\n
  2. I fulfilled the intentions of this map<\/a> and meeting the owner of The Willows<\/a> was a bonus – but I missed a lot of places through lack of prior research.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cJesmond was no more than a village up to the middle of the C19th when it became the residential suburb for the wealthiest inhabitants. The monuments reflect both these aspects.\u201d – Pevsner –\u00a0<\/em>it hasn’t changed much see below.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    https:\/\/dclgapps.communities.gov.uk\/imd\/idmap.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My walking route from Sainsburys High Heaton. Yellow pins points of interest, many missed though later research found them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11,22,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-housing-design","category-thoughts","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25632"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29715,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25632\/revisions\/29715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/singleaspect.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}