SOUTH JESMOND CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER STATEMENT South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 Terms of reference: conservation areas evaluation 2 1.2 South Jesmond - purpose of designation, principles of character and boundaries, the sub-division of the conservation area 3

2. CONTEXT OF SOUTH JESMOND 7 2.1 Historical development 7 2.2 Recent changes -present situation 8 2.3 Landscape context 9

3. SETTLEMENT ASSESSMENT 10 Landscape and built character assessment 3.1 Sub-area 1: Victorian villas and terraces north of Jesmond Road 10 Osborne Avenue, Osborne Road, Clayton Road, Fernwood Road, Akenside Terrace, Granville Road and Jesmond Road (north side) 3.2 Sub-area 2: Victorian terraces between Jesmond Road and Sandyford Road, Bus Station and Portland Park 27 Jesmond Road (south side), Osborne Road, Portland Terrace, Hutton Terrace, Benton Terrace, Sandyford Road (north side). 3.3 Sub-area 3: Victorian crescent at Chester Crescent (west side) 33 3.4 Sub-area 4: The Punch Bowl Public House and the Minories 35 3.5 Sub-area 5: Open Spaces 37 Newcastle General Cemetery, All Saints Cemetery, and the County Cricket Ground.

Acknowledgements 44

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 1 1. INTRODUCTION Value of the Appraisal The value of the appraisal is two-fold. First, its publication will improve the understanding of the value of the built 1.1 Terms of Reference heritage. It will provide property owners This character appraisal has been within the conservation area, and potential prepared in response to Government developers with clearer guidance on advice. planning matters and the types of Conservation Areas development, which are likely to be Conservation Areas were introduced by encouraged. Secondly, it will enable the Civic Amenities Act 1967, and defined Newcastle City Council to improve its as being “areas of special architectural or strategies, policies and attitude towards historic interest the character or the conservation and development appearance of which it is desirable to opportunities and priorities within the preserve or enhance”. They depend on conservation area. The appraisal will form much more than the quality of individual a sound basis for establishing effective buildings, and take into account features conservation area policies; support the such as building layout, open spaces, effective determination of planning and boundaries, thoroughfares, the mix of listed building applications, and form uses, use of materials and street furniture. relevant evidence in planning appeals with It is common for a conservation area to specific emphasis on those relating to the include a number of buildings which are demolition of unlisted buildings. designated as ‘Listed Buildings’ because Evaluation Criteria of their individual architectural or historic Buildings and Development Sites value. • existence of/proximity to listed Conservation Area Appraisals buildings, scheduled ancient The approach to conservation area monuments, protected trees, designation has altered dramatically in features of interest recent years and it is now recognised that • grouping cohesiveness, linkage/ development plan policies, development relationships to other buildings control decisions, proposals for • period, style, materials, colour, detail, preservation or enhancement and the proportion, status ‘management’ of conservation areas can be best achieved when there is a clear • uniqueness, distinctiveness, and sound understanding of the special consistency, inventiveness interest of the conservation area. PPG 15 • local, regional or national importance -“Planning and the Historic Environment” • completeness, condition, urges Local Authorities to prepare construction detailed assessments of their • cultural, historical or ‘folk/popular’ conservation areas and states that “the associations more clearly the special architectural or historic interest that justifies designation is • archaeological and industrial defined and recorded, the sounder will be archaeological value the basis for local plan policies and • orientation, access, form, height, plot development control decisions, as well as shape for the preservation and enhancement of • relationship to topography and urban the character or appearance of an area”. grain

2 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement • density/proximity to other buildings one mile north east of Newcastle City • historical or planning precedents Centre, between the residential areas of Brandling Village and Sandyford. It • opportunity for creative essentially comprises late Victorian contemporary solutions residential development within a mature • threat from unsympathetic landscape setting. The large gardens, development surrounding properties in the north of the Streetscape conservation area and the substantial • historic pattern open spaces, including two cemeteries and a cricket ground make the • effect of proportion, alignment and landscaped environment of particular topography on enclosure significance. Within the area there are • street furniture, signs and features Grade II* and 11 Grade II listed buildings. • landscaping and surfacing Additionally, Newcastle General Cemetery is included in the English Heritage • shopfronts and commercial Register of Historic Parks and Gardens, treatment receiving Grade II status. • period, style, materials, colour, detail, proportion, status The reasons for designation were first to reinforce existing local plan policies and • relationship to urban grain protect the concept of the local scene • relationship and hierarchy with especially the demolition of unlisted connecting spaces buildings. Secondly to exercise additional • cohesiveness and relationship with control over new development and the use buildings of urban space to achieve a higher standard of design in alterations and new • local, regional or national importance buildings. • completeness, condition, Principles of Character construction This conservation area essentially • cultural, historical or ‘folk/popular’ comprises four elements. Large detached associations or semi-detached Victorian villas set in • archaeological and industrial large gardens, C20th replacement archaeological value development on villa plots, Victorian • uniqueness, distinctiveness, terraces and open space. consistency, inventiveness The Victorian villas and C20th infill • visual and physical activity development on villa plots are located to the north west of the conservation area. • traffic and access This area contains a mixture of uses, both • effects of differing lighting conditions residential and commercial, contributing to its distinctive character. Osborne Avenue, to the north, contains large, double fronted 1.2 South Jesmond terraced and large semi-detached housing, set back from the road, with Purpose of designation, principles of substantial front gardens. Clayton, character, boundaries and sub-division of Fernwood and Granville Roads contain the conservation area. larger residential villas set in mature Purpose of Designation landscaped gardens; a considerable The South Jesmond Conservation Area, number have been converted into designated in 1987, lies approximately commercial or multiple occupancy

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 3 residential use. The area is characterised the change in building styles is clear. The by wide roads backed by mature trees north-western section of Osborne Avenue and large properties of varying consists of large, double fronted terraced architectural styles from mid Victorian to properties with substantial front gardens. late C20th all in mature landscaped However, the properties on the north- gardens. eastern section are not included as they The Victorian residential terraces are are markedly smaller with smaller front located within the sub-areas 3.1 to 3.3. gardens. Accordingly, the boundary Their special character is derived from the follows the line of the County Cricket formality and uniformity of the materials Ground. The properties on Holly Avenue, and detailing and the variation in design of like those on the north-eastern section of each individual terrace. These terraces Osborne Avenue, are smaller hence the now fall into two distinct groups: those justification for their exclusion. retained in residential use and those The western boundary follows the centre of predominantly in commercial use. Osborne Road, from Osborne Avenue to Osborne Avenue (north side), Akenside Sandyford Road to the south. Unlike the Terrace (east side), Granville Road and adjacent Brandling Village conservation Chester Crescent have remained in area boundary it excludes the Metro line residential use which is evident by the embankment, therefore leaving this narrow retention of the landscape setting and strip of land between the two conservation respect for the original building character. areas. The high random rubble stone wall The terraces predominantly now in and mature trees of this embankment commercial use include Osborne Road positively contribute to the character of this either side of Jesmond Road, Portland conservation area. The majority of Terrace, Hutton Terrace (south side) and properties within the conservation area Benton Terrace. These latter properties north of Jesmond Road have only a side have witnessed the most damage to their elevation onto Osborne Road, the original character, mostly as a result of the exception being the small parade of shops change of use and additionally due to the at the junction of Osborne Avenue and high traffic volumes passing through this Osborne Road. The mid Victorian terrace location. of Osborne Road to the south of Jesmond The open spaces consists of All Saints Road provides a strong frontage to this Cemetery and the County Cricket Ground section of the conservation area. to the north and Newcastle General The southern boundary largely follows the Cemetery to the south. In total they line of Sandyford Road from Osborne comprise almost half of this conservation Road in the west to Jesmond Road to the area. They provide extensive open space east. However, there is a small deviation, and historic continuity to this suburban with the inclusion of Chester Crescent to location. the south. The special character of this Boundaries terrace is consistent with the quality of the The boundary is defined by Osborne conservation area as a whole. The walls Avenue to the north; Osborne Road and of Newcastle General Cemetery dictate the Metro line to the west; Sandyford the south-eastern boundary. Road to the south and Newcastle General The eastern boundary is principally Cemetery boundary to the east. The defined by the extent of Newcastle northern boundary includes only the north- General Cemetery and All Saints western section of Osborne Avenue where Cemetery. It also includes the former

• South Jesmond Conservation Area

• Sub-Divisions of the Conservation Area

6 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement Shiners Antiques property, the Punch Bowl 2. CONTEXT OF Public House and half of a modern apartment development on Jesmond SOUTH JESMOND Road. The inclusion of a section of the new development was not intentional but a result of the conservation area boundary 2.1 Historical Development being drawn up prior to its construction. Jesmond was within the Castle Ward This eastern boundary of the conservation division of Northumberland until 1835 area has special qualities, notably the when it was included in the Borough and Punch Bowl Public House and the historic County of Newcastle upon Tyne as a location known as the Minories. suburb of the City. At the beginning of the The Sub-Division of the C19th Jesmond was an agricultural area Conservation Area with a few operating coal mines. Near the Within South Jesmond conservation area Minories at the east end of the there are five identifiable sub-areas with conservation area was an old coal shaft distinctive character and appearance. which was reopened in 1828. These sub-areas have been determined From 1741 to 1821, the Warwick Family by: the nature of land use; Historical and owned the land that now includes the Architectural character; and the landscape conservation area. As a result of setting. bankruptcy in 1821, the family disposed of These are: the estate. Thomas Burdon purchased the northern section and James Archbold, i. Victorian Villas and Terraces north of along with others, purchased the most Jesmond Road. southerly portion. Osborne Avenue, Osborne Road, Thomas Oliver’s map of 1844 shows two Clayton Road, Fernwood Road, principal routes through the area, now Akenside Terrace, Granville Road known as Jesmond Road and Sandyford and Jesmond Road (north side). Road. The only developments depicted ii. Victorian Terraces between on the 1844 map surviving today are; the Jesmond Road and Sandyford Punch Bowl Public House, Newcastle Road, Bus Station and Portland General Cemetery (1836) part of Jesmond Park. Villas, (now lost within the Swallow Hotel Jesmond Road (south side), complex) and Burdon Place (1811). Osborne Road, Portland Terrace, The Newcastle General Cemetery Hutton Terrace, Benton Terrace, Company was formed in 1834. John Sandyford Road (north side). Dobson was commissioned to design the iii. Victorian Crescent at Chester buildings, and on his death he was buried Crescent. in the cemetery. Two chapels were built at the northern end by Jesmond Road. Each Chester Crescent. has a mortuary vault underneath, where the iv. The Punch Bowl Public House and coffins could be stored before burial. At the Minories the southern end there are two large gate Jesmond Road and back Jesmond piers and a lodge. The site is surrounded Road. by a 2½ m high stone wall. v. Open Spaces: Newcastle General All Saints Cemetery was laid out in 1853. Cemetery, All Saints Cemetery and County Cricket Ground.

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 7 The majority of development which intrusive business signage. Further large shaped this conservation area was properties to the north of the conservation predominantly residential and took place area have suffered from development between 1858 and 1898. Between 1863 pressures, particularly from the desire to and 1875, Pears Archbold (nephew of demolish properties and replace with James) constructed the section of modern apartment blocks, or from Osborne Road between Jesmond Road pressure for subdivision into apartments. and Clayton Road, Portland Terrace, A number of former large residential Hutton Terrace, Percy Terrace, Osborne properties were also converted into Terrace, Akenside Terrace and the villas commercial premises. The harmful effect on Clayton Road. The remainder of the of commercial developments and Archbold land was sold for building sites residential conversions is very evident, (Dendy, 1904). affecting both the appearance of unlisted buildings and the character of the During the mid nineteenth century this conservation area. Since January 1998 area of Jesmond became the home of the adopted Unitary Development Plan shipbuilders, shipowners and other has provided a new policy basis for captains of industry. Amongst the rectifying unsympathetic changes within neighbouring residents of these large conservation areas and protecting houses were: T H Bainbridge of the residential amenity. There has also been Newcastle department store, G B Hunter a recent trend for urban living returning of Swan and Hunter shipbuilders and the terrace housing to residential use from shipbuilder William Dobson. Shipowners; commercial use. Planning permissions J J Forster lived at Woodslea and Walter have been granted for residential re Runciman at Fernwood House. From the conversion. 1870’s these palatial homes were progressively surrounded by more modest The proximity of this conservation area to suburban terrace houses for the middle the City Centre has influenced present classes. These spread northwards either character and use. Traffic volumes within side of Osborne Road. From 1880 the southern part of the conservation area, Osborne Road was serviced by horse- are very high - especially along Jesmond drawn tram as far as Mistletoe Road. This Road which is a link from the Coast Road was later replaced by electric trams in to the Central Motorway. In addition, 1901 and trolley buses from 1938 to 1965. parking charges within the city centre have created parking problems within the area. Streets become congested as cars park free of charge and drivers either walk or 2.2 Recent Changes catch the Metro into the city centre. This During the mid twentieth century there has problem is particularly serious within sub been a change in land use within the area 1 to the north of Jesmond Road. On conservation area, particularly in the south, Granville Road there is a permit parking from residential to commercial. This scheme. change in land use, and its associated South Jesmond Conservation area can be incremental development, has eroded the summarised as one of recognisable character of the area. This is particularly contrast: acute on Portland Terrace, Benton Terrace and Osborne Road where the once i. Verdant, peaceful streets and open uniform terraces are defaced by numerous spaces filled with audible bird song, inappropriate roof extensions, loss of front with a sense of place to linger and gardens to hard standing for parking, and enjoy. The Villas and Terraces north

8 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement of Jesmond Road, the cemeteries Jesmond Dene. As with much of the City and recreational grounds. the underlying Sandstone and Coal Harsh, hard surfaced, noisy, traffic Measures are masked by Glacial drift but dominated streets where sense of here it is mostly the upper stony clay of place is destroyed and aggressively southeast Northumberland. separated by constant fast traffic flow The earliest significant development of the and building frontages cluttered with area, the Newcastle General Cemetery, is parked cars; Jesmond Road, still today one of the most significant Sandyford Road and Portland landscape elements. Today its high stone Terrace. walls provide quite an effective barrier to ii. Impressive examples of Victorian the noisy traffic on Jesmond Road and residential architecture, a sense of Sandyford Road and the rather unkempt uniformity provided by both scale nature of the planting within the informal and materials but also a wealth of layout has led to the creation of a wildlife variety in the detailing; the Victorian haven. The cemetery forms part of the Villas and Terraces throughout the short wildlife corridor that links Jesmond conservation area. Dene, through the grounds of Nazareth House and the Cemeteries, through the Banal C20th architecture and well treed gardens of the conservation insensitive later alterations causing area to the Metro line on its western edge. incremental loss to the designed All Saints Cemetery to the north of Victorian uniformity; Osborne Jesmond Road is a strong contrast with its Avenue (south side), Portland more traditional formal layout and its clear Terrace and Benton Terrace. visibility but it nonetheless is an important iii. Concealed delights; Victorian green and open space with mature trees cobbles and coach houses, Portland on the edge of the conservation area. Bowls Green, the footpath linking Mature trees provide a strong and unifying Osborne Avenue and Clayton Road. landscape element throughout much of the Exposed spaces with total loss of conservation area particularly within the original setting and insensitive gardens of the larger properties along modern development; Jesmond Osborne Road, Osborne Avenue, Clayton Road, Portland Terrace and Road and Fernwood Road. They finger Sandyford Road. down the terraces to Jesmond Road but are largely absent from the terrace South Jesmond Conservation Area properties south of Jesmond Road with has lost any sense of homogeneity in the exception of Osborne Terrace and the last century and now has a sense Chester Crescent. Many of these mature of disparate elements separated by trees are also protected by Preservation the traffic network. Orders but they are still a vulnerable resource. Most obvious has been the loss of many of the mature Elm trees due to 2.3 Landscape Context Dutch Elm disease particularly from within the cemeteries and the grounds of the Whilst the northern part of the Mansion House. Some mature trees have Conservation area along Osborne Avenue been lost in the C20th developments and and Clayton Road is generally flat, south of the replacement planting has yet to make here the land slopes very gently to the an impact. The size and maturity of some south and east, south towards the Tyne of the trees within the smaller terrace valley and east towards the Ouseburn and properties is a problem in some cases.

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 9 3. SETTLEMENT ASSESSMENT - BUILT CHARACTER AND LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT

3.1 Sub-area 1: The adjacent terrace of three houses has been replaced by the Swallow hotel car Victorian Villas and Terraces park. Only the lodge house of North of Jesmond Road Jesmondfieldhouse public house remains adjacent to Fernwood Road which at that Osborne Avenue, Osborne Road, Clayton time was an established foot road to Road, Fernwood Road, Akenside Terrace, Jesmond. Granville Road and Jesmond Road (north side). The present road layout and plot sub- divisions directly relates to the early field This sub-area is akin to a large and boundaries and patterns of landownership prestigious cul-de-sac of Victorian as shown on TW Bell’s Map of 1847. residential development constructed Between 1863 and 1875 Pears Archibold predominantly between 1858 and 1898. It developed the impressive Clayton Road is bounded by Jesmond Road formed by Villas and Akenside Terrace together with the Corporation of Newcastle upon Tyne in his other residential developments in sub 1840 and Osborne Road constructed up area 3.2. Richard Burdon Sanderson to Clayton Road between 1860 and 1870 developed the semi detached Osborne by Mr Pears Archbold and continued to Villas immediately to the north and the Jesmond Dene Road by Messrs Richard terrace housing on Osborne Avenue. The Burdon Sanderson from 1870 to 1880. remaining land to the south was in the R J Charleton in 1885 describes its ownership of the Mary Magdalene development. Hospital and the corporation. ‘and where Jesmond fields used to The second edition Ordnance Survey of lie to the north-east of it, another new 1898 shows the completed Victorian suburb has sprung up – West development which has little changed with Jesmond; which is one of the most the exception of some larger scaled C20th pleasant parts of the town. Its streets infill developments. are wide, its houses are pretty, and • The Nuffield Hospital occupying the its detached villas, surrounded by site of West Jesmond House and quickly growing trees, add to its Tyneholme attractive appearance’. This description succinctly states the • Wordsworth House a residential present special characteristics of nursing home occupying the semi- this sub-area. detached villa site of Woodslea and Eskbank. Thomas Oliver’s Map of 1844 shows the earliest developments. Burdon Place was • The 1930’s flatted developments of built on land formerly owned by Sir Osborne Court and Granville Court Thomas Burdon and advertised for sale in within the grounds of Jesmondfield 1811. Dendy records in 1904 that ‘the House Public House. end house next to Osborne Road has • The mid C20th flatted developments recently been converted into shops’. The of Blythswood replacing the mid semi-detached Jesmond Villas is now Victorian semi-detached Blythswood subsumed in the Swallow Hotel complex. Villas, Fernwood Apartments set

10 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement within the grounds of Singleton by two Victorian terraces, whilst its House and Brandling Court on the southern side is composed of larger semi- site of the former Presbyterian detached Victorian villas and modern infill church. development. • The mid C20th YMCA replaced the The northern side of the road mid Victorian semi-detached villas predominately comprises a two storey adjacent to Fernwood House. Victorian white glazed brick double- This area is characterised by large mid to fronted terrace. There is uniformity in late Victorian dwelling houses, detached, architectural detailing, creating a semi-detached and terraced. There is a continuous rhythm which contributes to the mixture of architectural styles, articulation of the street façade. There are incorporating a richness in materials and window bays at ground floor level and detailing which adds visual interest to the ashlar dressings to the windows, panelled surroundings. The substantial open space front doors, continuous string courses and between the properties, the distance of eaves dentil band. The sizeable these properties from the road, the landscaped front gardens are an mature trees and landscaped setting important feature, distinguishing this street together with the wide streets markedly from the same period terraced streets in differentiate this sub-area from the other Jesmond as a whole. developments in the Conservation Area and the adjacent suburban developments of the same period. The completeness of the landscape setting provides an overall coherence which assists to integrate the modern infill developments. They generally have respected the Victorian pattern of development and consists of large single developments, predominately apartment blocks, set in extensive landscaped plots. Whilst the high levels of traffic on Osborne Road and Jesmond Road create an unpleasant pedestrian environment, within a short distance of entering this sub-area • North side of Osborne Avenue the ambience is arcadian, verdant, tranquil and full of bird song. The exception is the Incremental change to the properties and traffic on Osborne Avenue which is the their curtilages has resulted in a partial only through road within this sub area. loss of uniformity, thus degrading the This is used as a rat-run. Recent traffic special characteristics of the terrace. The calming appears to be of limited value as addition of inappropriate roof extensions, a deterrent. which ignore existing rooflines and later Osborne Avenue is a leafy residential fenestration patterns are a prime example street comprising of residential properties of this change. The installation of velux set back from the road with substantial roof lights, although less detrimental, landscaped front gardens which give a reinforces the loss of uniformity in the spacious feel to the street. The northern roofscape. The original sash windows are side of Osborne Avenue is characterised predominantly intact, although UPVC

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 11 replacements are apparent in a number of cases. Replacement of the original lead down pipes and guttering and the addition of a number of satellite dishes have also degraded the uniformity of the terrace. The well kept landscaped front gardens make a positive contribution to the setting and many of the original stone boundary posts still remain. However, • Red brick houses on Osborne Avenue the mixture of boundary treatments to the gardens, including railings, hedges, walls and fences has resulted in a discontinuous composition inferior to the original uniformity created by the traditional stone boundary posts, gateposts and iron railings. Some of the boundary treatments are inappropriate and detract from the street scene. Those that detract most significantly are the opaque barriers, such as fences and walls, which are • Osborne Villas often too high and thus restrict views of the terraces beyond. The semi-detached Victorian villas reflect the architecture of the terrace houses At the junction with Osborne Road there is opposite but on a grander scale. Two a short terrace of three red brick houses. storey, with attic accommodation, double The design is more elaborate with fronted with projecting bay windows, white contrasting sandstone dressings, ornate glazed brick with ashlar surrounds. No. 5 stained glass upper lights, key hole and 6 in contract is constructed in red shaped front door surround with dainty brick with recessed panels to the ashlar pillars and an offset bay window bay window dressings. These villas integrating an attic dormer window. An display a variety of detailing adding inappropriate flat roofed dormer and white richness to the street scene. The western painted brickwork of the central property end of the development has escaped the detracts from the group value of this radical alterations and extensions which terrace. seem to have occurred elsewhere on The southern side is aptly named Osborne Osborne Avenue. Much of the original Villas. In contrast to the northern side, it is detailing remains and the individual characterised by large semi-detached architectural features, such as wooden Victorian villas combined with twentieth eaves detailing, add interest to the century infill development of varying streetscape. A number of the villas to the architectural quality. The properties are east have undergone substantial now predominantly apartments, either alterations of varying quality. The addition c20th purpose built or villa conversions. of inappropriate roof extensions and The modern Nuffield Hospital prominent fire escapes resulting from development stands at the western end of conversion into flats, detract form the the street neighbouring Osborne Road. original architectural qualities.

12 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement A Grade II listed pillar-box lies north of Osborne Court, the Art Deco style number 4 Osborne Villas. Built between apartment block situated adjacent to the 1872 and 1879, it is of third penfold type. County Cricket Ground was the last plot This is one of the few pillar-boxes of this within this sub-area to be developed. It is type to be found in the City. Its bright red a period piece, the elegant symmetrical colour stands in contrast to the green leafy façade is neutral within the conservation backdrop adding interest to the street area. It is a red brick construction with scene. white full height projecting bays There is an unsightly modern infill incorporating curved glass, divided into development at number 9 Osborne Villas. small horizontal panes by mullions and There is little interest in the articulation of transoms. The hard standing at the front the façade, composed of blank brickwork of the property is used for parking and and vertical white clad bays flush with the incorporates few landscaped elements façade. The development is out of scale which detracts from the mature with neighbouring properties and the landscaped character of the street scene. minimal landscaping does little to blend Osborne Road is a major road defining the development with the surroundings. the western boundary of the conservation The Nuffield Hospital, at the western end area. This sub area only incorporates a of Osborne Avenue, is another modern small section of the road which includes development which detracts from the the side elevations of the mid c20th carefully detailed architecture of the replacement developments of the Nuffield Victorian properties which characterise Hospital and Blythswood. Much of this the street. It is a flat roof construction and stretch of Osborne Road is defined by is built of brown brick incorporating ribbon brick and stonewalls, delineating the windows. The original gateposts and Victorian boundaries of properties and some mature landscaping to the entrance gardens which back onto it. Development of the property help to conceal its facing Osborne Road includes the short presence. row of late Victorian retail units,

• Art Deco style Osborne Court

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 13 incorporated into the side elevation of units are unsympathetically inserted into Burdon Place and the mid Victorian the converted end property. The original residential developments of 1 to 9 shop fronts remain, they are good Osborne Road. examples of period design. Their group

• Burdon Place

At the junction of Osborne Avenue the value has been detracted by c20th detached two storey brick clad service signage and security measures. building of the Nuffield Hospital is very Blythswood apartments are situated on apparent set behind a low brick wall. This the south corner of Clayton Road, with an mid c20th functional building has replaced elevation facing onto Osborne Road. This the lodge to West Jesmond House and is a modern austere looking five-storey detracts from the appearance of the apartment block of red brick, black panels conservation area. and reflective glass, with a copper roof. It The second phase of the Nuffield Hospital dominates the streetscape. A brick wall occupies the site of Tyneholme. The with replacement ‘heritage’ type railings former villa’s high sandstone boundary and some mature landscaping defines the wall assists to screen this mid c20th boundary onto Osborne Road. development from the road. Principally its appearance is very similar to the first phase on Osborne Avenue except for the copper clad roof. The massing and minimal architectural detailing is out of keeping with this mid Victorian suburb. The four red brick Georgian terrace houses of Burdon Place are screened by mature trees set within the long front gardens and beside the boundary wall. This wall is very handsome, articulated with recessed panels. The three late Victorian shop • Blythswood apartments

14 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement villa has a strong presence on both of the streets. The house has incrementally grown in several phases, creating an eclectic appearance. The Victorian high red brick wall provides strong enclosure and assists to screen a poor quality flat roof c20th extension from Osborne Road. • 9 Osborne Road On the other side of the road is the mid No. 9 Osborne Road is set within the Victorian crescent of uniform terrace grounds of the former southern half of houses which also returns onto Jesmond Blythswood villas. In summer it is almost Road. No. 81 Jesmond Road and nos. 1 screened from the road by mature trees, to 6 Osborne Road and no. 10 Fernwood only the gable can be glimpsed over the Road are double fronted whilst nos. 1 to 8 high brick boundary wall. On the road its Fernwood Road are half the footprint width presence is indicated by stone gate piers with paired entrances. The architecture is and the change in colour and height of the almost identical to nos. 1 to 11 Osborne of the brick wall. Terrace, the only apparent differences are the projecting door canopies and the A children’s nursery occupies the now bracketed eaves cornice. Otherwise the detached white glazed brick Victorian villa detailing of these red brick, ashlar of no. 8 Osborne Road. The luxuriant ivy dressed terraces is identical. This growth and mature trees reduce the attractively detailed crescent provides a visibility of this property and also minimise strong and formal frontage onto this sub- the loss of its northern half. The coloured area. The effect of the recent Jesmond railings are an incongruous feature Road road widening scheme has robbed although they give colour to the street. this crescent and Osborne Terrace of the At the junction of Osborne Road and strong visual linkage of facing gables. The Fernwood Road is South End, now no. 7 two now appear visually detached. This Fernwood Road. This red brick Victorian crescent is predominantly in commercial

• Osborne Road

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 15 use, although at the junction with recent hard surfaced parking areas in front Fernwood Road, four properties have of some of the properties. These been converted into residential properties belong principally to two apartments (Holly Court). This has been phases of Victorian architecture and are done to a high standard restoring either constructed in sandstone or buff architectural and landscape features. The brick with Italianate style or restrained landscaped gardens are of high quality classical elevations or in the later red brick and the boundary treatment incorporates Queen Anne style. Originally they were the original stone gateposts with new occupied as family homes, but now the appropriate railings. majority are used for commercial

• Osborne Road junction with Jesmond Road

Incremental development has resulted in a purposes due to their substantial size and loss of the special character of the terrace their proximity to the centre of Newcastle. through: the addition of inappropriate The c20th replacement developments are dormer roof extensions; loss of front predominantly apartment blocks, whilst gardens and boundary treatment; loss of they respect the Victorian pattern of a some original sash windows replaced with single development in a generous UPVC; inconsistent painting; suburban plot, their massing is greater, inappropriate business signage and their architectural style more diverse, and curtilage parking. they dominate their setting rather than Clayton Road, Fernwood Road and being set-in. Granville Road form the main component Clayton Road is a continuation from of this sub-area. It is characterised by Brandling Village, the road is wide and large detached and semi detached straight with a gentle incline towards Victorian Villas, set back from the road, Akenside Terrace. The Victorian brick or providing the appearance of grand country stone front boundary walls provide privacy residences. They are accessed by long and formality. driveways and surrounded by mature landscaped gardens. The established trees and shrubs conceal much of the properties from view and softens the

16 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement The main entrance to the Nuffield Hospital towers provide romantic skyline features. is located on the north side of Clayton Differences in maintenance and Road, at the Osborne Road end. Hedges unsympathetic replacement roof dormers and landscaping at the boundary and create visual discrepancy. within the grounds soften the car parking Jesmond House YWCA is provision. not visible from the street. This mid c20th replacement development would appear to closely follow the footprint of the previous detached villas, the overall scale is not dissimilar to the Willow and Holmwood. Built in buff brick, with a slate clad mansard roof and black framed windows with vertical emphasis, it sympathetically • Nuffield Hospital, Clayton Road relates to the neighbouring Victorian developments in a Next to the Nuffield Hospital stands contemporary style. Wordsworth House, a modern, mock Tudor pavilion purpose built as a The detached villa of Fernwood House residential nursing home. The building is built in sandstone is constructed in the three storeys with red brick at ground floor same Italianate villa architectural style as level and a mock Tudor effect above The Willows and Holmwood. The central based on a square modular grid design. campanile tower and tall chimney are The third storey is contained within the prominent skyline features. The recent roof space and has square dormer windows. The design of this property is alien to the surrounding architecture, the wide expanse of grass and low heritage type railings creating an open frontage making the development particularly prominent in • Wordsworth House, Clayton Road comparison to other properties on the street. The large semi- detached villas of The Willows and Holmwood built in sandstone are an attractive example of Italiante style mid Victorian architecture. The end campanile • Jesmond House YWCA

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 17 • The Willows and Holmwood creation of office car parking has been Adjacent to Fernwood House is an sensitively integrated from the mature attractive long tree-lined private avenue landscaped setting. which provides access to two pairs of semi-detached villas: Denewood and Thornleigh House, Elmbank and Oakwood Lodge. Built in buff brick with slate roofs their architecture is a modest classical version of their sandstone neighbours. The coach house to Oakwood Lodge is at the junction of Clayton Road and the paths linking Osborne Avenue to Jesmond Road. It is well preserved, with a dainty lead cupola. This coach house and the surviving Victorian setts is one of the few areas in this Conservation Area where the Victorian streetscape remains.

• Fernwood House, Clayton Road

• Tree-lined private avenue • Coach house to Oakwood Lodge

18 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement extension to the east and a prominent fire escape also detract from the main composition. It’s present semi- derelict state detracts from the quality of the street. Fernwood Apartments is a large four storey modern infil development of red brick construction. It has a double aspect, with its opposite entrance facing onto Fernwood Road. Its elevations are articulated by inset balconies and wooden oriel windows. • Elmbank and Oakwood It is not of any significant architectural

The red brick Queen Anne semi detached houses of Ferndale and Priorsdale, Ashgill and Ennerdale are more modest in scale and primarily belong in a group with neighbouring developments on Fernwood Road and Akenside Terrace. Although Ashgill and Ennerdale are accessed from Clayton Road with coach houses abutting the pavement, their formal frontage is to Fernwood Road.

• Clayton House

quality and detracts from the surroundings. The hard landscaping setting contrasts unsympathetically to the surrounding mature gardens. The remainder of the southern side of Clayton Road consists of a wall and hedge which form the boundary to the Mansion House gardens, its frontage being located on Fernwood Road. These formerly were the grounds of Clayton • Ferndale House. Glimpses of these attractive, well- kept gardens with a neat lawn and Clayton House, formerly Deneholme is cultivated flowerbeds can be obtained prominent in the streetscene due to lack of from Clayton Road. Along this frontage any screening tree or shrub planting and and within the grounds there has been a present vacancy. It relates to the notable loss of mature elm trees although surrounding period developments in terms replacement planting has been carried of scale and materials but it is a peculiar out. Set within the grounds is the surviving design for the period and lacks Clayton Cottage, a modest red brick architectural finesse. The unsympathetic Queen Anne style dwelling.

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 19 • Fernwood Apartments

The mid c20th apartment block of Blythswood is at the junction of Clayton Road and Osborne Road. The stepped façade creates interest to an otherwise austere appearance. No. 38 Clayton Road the former villa lodge house remains, nestling between high brick red walls and the mature trees of the Mansion House gardens. The roof is dominated by a large velux window. Fernwood Road is similar in character to Clayton Road, with properties set back from the road surrounded by substantial • Fernwood Road landscaped grounds to give an open, leafy

• The Mansion House

20 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement feel to the environment. The set back is tennis court. This, however, is partially reduced for those properties accessed hidden from sight by a high boundary wall. from this street. The roadside is The absence of mature landscaping is characterised predominantly by stretches obvious. of brick and stonewalls and mature Granville Road is, at its western end, landscaping providing an important dominated by Granville Court, an art deco contribution to the composition of the style apartment block similar in character street scene. In contrast to Clayton Road, to Osborne Court. The main entrance is Fernwood Road has retained more articulated by a projecting red brick central residential use. It runs at an angle to tower which incorporates an interesting Osborne Road, almost interconnecting vertical window defining the stairwell. Two with Clayton Road at its eastern end wings, either side of the central tower, are following the route of the earlier footpath. decorated with metal framed windows of The Mansion House is very prominent horizontal emphasis, typical of that era, close to the junction of Fernwood Road with small panes. The development is a and Granville Road, set within the garden good example of Art Deco architecture but close to the road and visible above a and in itself provides an interesting low stone wall and trimmed privet hedge. composition which relates to the Built in rough hewn standstone blocks it Conservation Area as a considered has the appearance of a Baronial Manor period piece. with castellated entrance porch and eaves. The gables, decorative banded slate roof and chimneys provide strong and attractive skyline features. The extensive grounds are well kept. The rest of the northern side of Fernwood Road is made up of the properties previously described on the south side of Clayton Road. The treatment of Fernwood apartment is similar to that of its opposite elevation. Although the landscaped setting is improved, the angled driveway • Granville Road lodge house and mature trees screen much of the development from view. The rear of Clayton House displays inappropriate The picturesque lodge house of the former single storey extensions and a disused Victorian villas remains within the grounds of Granville Court at the junction of Fernwood Road. The decorative slate roof and door canopy are just visible under the adjacent mature tree canopy. Within the apex of Fernwood Road and Akenside Terrace and immediately opposite are a group of nineteen more modest sized family residences, detached or semi detached. By virtue of similar coloured brickwork, principally red or buff, slate roof, footprint, massing and • Granville Court architectural detailing, they have a strong

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 21 group identity. The individual detailing The scale of the grain of this sub area displaying examples of either mid to late further reduces on Akenside Terrace and Victorian style adds richness and variety. Granville Road towards the junction with The white glazed brickwork of Silksworth Jesmond Road. The landscape setting, House at the junction of Fernwood Road architectural style and detailing integrate links this group to the distinctive white these terrace houses with the glazed terrace properties on Granville neighbouring modest and grand villas. Road adjacent to Jesmond Road. Akenside Terrace is a residential street with properties set slight back from the road. Its eastern side is characterised predominately by Victorian red brick terraced dwellings. There is uniformity in detailing; ashlar windows and door surrounds, bay windows at ground and basement levels. The majority of properties have retained their original sliding sash windows and all have slate roofs. On the whole the properties are in a good state of repair, with • Granville Road well maintained front gardens.

The group value of these villas is reinforced by their landscaped settings, moderately sized mature landscaped gardens with attractive formal boundary treatments. The lush peaceful setting and the similarities in architectural design seamlessly link these smaller residences with the grander residences on Clayton Road and Fernwood Road. All the properties appear well cared for with minimal loss of original features. • Akenside Terrace

Incremental change has resulted in some loss of uniformity, thus degrading the special characteristics of the terrace. This loss of uniformity is a result of the addition of inappropriate dormer roof extensions, varying boundary treatments, the loss of original lead down pipes and guttering, the introduction of security systems and the differing colour paint to stonework. Many of the properties have been converted from single dwellings to flats, further • Akenside Terrace removing the regularity with the insertion of

22 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement additional doors at ground and basement levels. A number of the properties have security bars fitted to the basement windows, further degrading the uniformity.

• Akenside Terrace

On the western side of the terrace the six semi-detached residences of nos. 24 and 29 Akenside Terrace were built at the turn of the century. These were the last phase • Akenside Terrace east side of the Victorian development. Three storey, built in red brick, nos. 24 and 25 rendered central gables, are influenced by are built in the Queen Anne style whilst the the Picturesque style. The use of similar other two pairs, with decorative railings architectural detailing and materials above the front door canopies and provides coherence to the group. There is

• No. 24 and 25 Akenside Terrace

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 23 evidence of incremental loss noticeably to the front landscaped setting and original window design. Granville Road is a leafy residential street with properties set slightly back from the road. Both sides are characterised by mid Victorian terraced properties. They are predominately three storey, white glazed brick construction with pitched slate roofs, some having an additional floor created within the roof space. The majority of the properties have been converted into apartments. • Granville Road Both sides of the road demonstrate uniformity in detailing; cream coloured guttering and inconsistent painting. ashlar surrounds to windows and doors, Although all of the original garden sash windows, ground floor bay windows, boundaries are still intact their treatment with tripartite windows above. The differs. Original character is further detailing has many similarities to the red eroded as some gardens have been and buff brick similar period replaced by hard standing and in some places the landscaping, particularly the hedges are very overgrown. The street benefits substantially from resident parking only controls. The white glazed brick residential terraces of Granville Road return on to Jesmond Road. Here the architecture appears austere, as a result of the reduction of windows at the upper floor levels. Little remains of the original front garden settings. The gardens now provide hardstanding for cars which is contained • Granville Road by a continuous low multi red brick wall with heritage type railings set between developments of the crescent facing artstone capped piers. Osborne Road and Fernwood Road and The most apparent aspect of Jesmond the terraces in sub area 2. Nos. 12 and Road is the high volume of traffic which 13 at the northern end of the road assist to passes along it severing the Conservation integrate these terraces with adjacent Area in two. Land use to the north of modest sized villas. Their scale is Jesmond Road includes offices, reduced to two storeys they are double residential apartments, a youth hostel and fronted and are slightly set forward. a hotel. Newcastle General Cemetery and Incremental development has eroded the side elevation of Portland Terrace bus some of the important features of the station lie to its southern side. street – inappropriate roof extensions, The six red brick, three storey terrace some replacement windows, loss of houses beside the Swallow Hotel complex original cast iron down piping and are a continuation of the adjacent mid

24 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement Victorian Crescent. As with many of the Brandling Court is situated at Jesmond terraces previously discussed, Road’s junction with Akenside Terrace. It incremental development has severely is a modern, four storey apartment block altered the original character of the with UPVC bay windows. A high brick wall properties. Most of the original sash surrounds it. To the east of Brandling windows have been removed and Court, and on the opposite side of replaced with metal-framed double glazing Akenside Terrace, there are two terraced and all but one of the properties has lost office properties of the same construction its original frontage to hard standing for to those on Akenside Terrace. Their parking. Each property has an commercial office use has resulted in a unsympathetic dormer extension. This, number of inappropriate developments together with intrusive signage and, such as, dormer extensions, security bars inconsistent painting of stonework around and unkempt gardens. windows and doors has led to further degradation of the environment. The largest section of the Swallow Hotel was constructed in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s it is an uninspiring modern development with an imposing, box-like cantilevered structure protruding over the existing street line. The • Jesmond Road viewed from Portland Terrace unsympathetic integration with the pre 1844 Jesmond villas and the hardscaped treatment of the front curtilage has resulted in yet a further degradation of the streetscape.

• Jesmond Road opposite Newcastle General Cemetery

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 25 Sub-area 1: Summary • intrusive business signage Special Characteristics • loss of mature garden setting to hard • large detached and semi-detached standing and poor quality boundary mid to late Victorian villas, mid to replacements late Victorian and Edwardian • high traffic volumes on Osborne terraces and crescent Road and Jesmond Road • quality, formality, variety and • traffic rat-run on Osborne Avenue. uniformity of materials and detailing • extensive roadside parking • deep set back of the properties from the road Key Issues • retain residential use and • mature landscaped gardens and discourage sub-division numerous mature trees • resist loss of original architectural • wide roads, distinctive and attractive features stone and brick boundary treatments to the properties • control incremental development • retention of historic network of paths, • control business signage cobbles and Victorian coach houses • retention of mature landscaped • quiet haven away from main arterial gardens, trees and boundary walls roads, with audible birdsong • parking control Enhancement Potential Against the Grain • restore residential use • inappropriate modern infill • restore original architectural features developments and extension to and control painting of ashlar existing properties • Article 4 Direction to increase control • loss of original features e.g. sash over incremental development windows, rainwater goods and inappropriate replacements • control business signage • incremental and inappropriate • reinstate and strengthen soft alterations; dormer roof extensions, landscape setting and appropriate painting of ashlar detailing and boundary treatments replacement railings • secure an appropriate use for • condition of Clayton House Clayton House

• Swallow Hotel, Jesmond Road

26 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 3.2 Sub-area 2: Victorian network of paths, two tennis grounds and a Bowling Green. The map of 1919 Terraces Between Jesmond shows that Cuttersfield House has been Road and Sandyford Road, demolished and the new developments of Bus Station and Portland the Park Keepers Cottage and the Drill Hall have been built. The former United Park Bus Depot (Grade II), was built in 1930. It Jesmond Road (South side), Osborne fronts onto Jesmond Road and Portland Terrace, Portland Terrace, Hutton Terrace, Terrace, in total occupying about two- Benton Terrace, Sandyford Road (North thirds of the Park grounds. side). The first impression of this sub-area is the Prior to 1840 this area was entirely detrimental impact of road traffic. It is agricultural crossed by a network of aggressively divided by Jesmond Road footpaths except for Sandyford Lane and and Sandyford Road from sub-areas 1 Benton Lane. Both these lanes are now and 3 and within by Portland Terrace. The known as Sandyford Road. Dendy records heavy volume of traffic on these roads “Sandyford Lane ended and Benton Lane provide physical and noise barriers. Also began at Sandyford Bridge, and the the demand for curtilage parking has awkward turn which existed at this point resulted in extensive loss of the front led to a series of three serious accidents, garden settings notably on Portland the first of which gave the name of Terrace, Percy Terrace and Benton ‘Lambert’s Leap’ to the locality.” This is Terrace. The rear of the Osborne Terrace now the junction of Sandyford Road, and Portland Terrace has become a large Portland Terrace and Portland Road. service yard, hard surfaced with only a few “Jesmond Road, which was at first called remnants of original brick boundary walls. Cemetery Road, was planned by Mr John Dobson and was formed by the corporation of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in or about the year 1840’ Dendy. The former Cuttersfield House now the site of Middleton Court was the only development in this sub area shown on Thomas Oliver’s Map of 1844. The footpath which is now Hutton Terrace linked Sandyford Bridge and Jesmond Road with Sandyford Road opposite the pre 1844 Sandyford Brewery. The • Junction of Sandyford Road and Tynemouth and Newcastle Railway beside Osborne Road Osborne Terrace was opened by in 1864. This sub-area of the conservation area The mid 1970’s road widening of was principally developed by Pears Jesmond Road at the junction of Osborne Archbold between 1863 and 1875. He Road and Osborne Terrace has resulted in was responsible for the construction of the loss of the original end house of Portland Terrace, Hutton Terrace, Percy Osborne Terrace and the end two houses Terrace and Osborne Terrace. Benton of Portland Terrace. It is reasonable to Terrace and Portland Park are shown on assume that the demolished end the second edition Ordnance Survey of properties would have been identical to 1898. The Park was set out with a those at the junction with Sandyford Road,

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 27 No. 11 Osborne Terrace and No. 135 constructed in concrete. A quasi Greek Sandyford Road. These properties are Doric style Portico in antis painted cream very similar in design and skilfully turn the fronts the extensive bus sheds. The wide corner. Whilst the gable elevation of voids of the vehicle entrances contrast No. 11 Osborne Terrace is simpler than with the projecting bay and solid fronted the front elevation. brick residential terraces of Portland Terrace. On Jesmond Road, a curious flat No. 135 Sandyford Road is set at right roofed concrete cabin with a deep band of angles to Portland Terrace with the horizontal glazing abuts the junction of principle bay fronted elevation facing onto Newcastle General cemetery. It is in a Sandyford Road. poor state of repair other than the shiny In marked contrast the rendered truncated perspex fascia band. The original stone gables of No. 1 Osborne Terrace and No. wall of Portland Park and mature tree 2 Portland Terrace detract from the planting behind helps to screen the character of the conservation area. Whilst serrated roof line of the sheds and the the civic landscape helps to soften the intervening staff car park. appearance of this busy traffic junction it Benton Terrace and the returned gable only partially obscures the rear view of the frontages of Osborne Terrace, Portland two terraces. Double yellow lines are now Terrace and Percy Terrace positively all that separate the rear lane from address Sandyford Road. The character extensive rear yard parking. The original of this road and sense of place has been uniformity of the rear terrace elevations seriously eroded by the conversion of front has been superseded by a variety of rear gardens to hardstanding for cars and the extensions, some of which are quite conversion infill development between unsympathetic and functional fire escapes. Osborne Terrace and Portland Terrace. This sub-area has little sense of arrival Hanson’s Hotel is a converted late from either Jesmond Road or Sandyford Victorian Villa, but with mid C20th full Road. The Arriva Bus Depot is the width flat roof dormer. The neighbouring dominant feature viewed from Jesmond car related businesses have introduced Road. Although listed it is an incongruous the standard functional mid C20th element in this sub-area. The footprint architecture associated with these and massing is alien to the surrounding commercial uses. fine urban grain. Built in 1930 it is

• Arriva bus depot, Portland Terrace

28 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement Portland Terrace bisects the sub-area. It built for the same landowner Pears is now a busy four lane highway with the Archbold, within a twelve year span. The majority of the front gardens converted to exception is Benton Terrace which pre- hardstanding for cars. No. 32 Percy dates the second edition Ordnance Terrace has retained it’s front garden. The Survey of 1898. They are all brick faced simple treatment of clipped lawn set within with ashlar dressings to the windows and the original sandstone plinth of the garden doors, with vertical sliding sash windows boundaries has effectively provided a and welsh slate pitched roofs. There is green oasis further enhanced by several also hierarchy and variation detail to their mature trees set both within the garden uniform design, giving each terrace a and pavement. distinct identity. Although Osborne Terrace witnesses a Osborne Terrace is the most impressive, high traffic volume, the deep plot frontages the double fronted houses occupy the and the retention of the gardens creates a largest plot width in the group and notably pleasant environment. It is only here that also the deepest front gardens. Their there is an appreciation of how the sub- sense of grandeur is enhanced by the area used to appear. The variation of wide front steps with ornate railings over shrubs and trees within the gardens is the semi basement to the front doors enhanced by a similar selection on the which are set in a heavily modelled metro line embankment. The original ‘Baronial’ style ashlar surround. The stone wall and cast-iron railings which are elevations are quite eclectic; pinkish brick intact for the entire length beside the with a distinctive polychromatic band of Metro line together with the mature red and yellow bricks below the ashlar landscaped back drop make an important eaves cornice and a heavily modelled contribution to the character of the projecting ashlar band over the ground conservation area although they are floor windows. Similar to Tankerville outside it by half the road width. Terrace the scheme is asymmetrical with a The architecture of the five mid-Victorian projecting bay window to one side of the terraces have many similarities, four were front door only.

• Osborne Terrace

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 29 • Portland Terrace

The design of the other terraces is simpler All these terraces suffer from loss of and they are all a similar buff coloured original setting to car parking and brick. The three storey Portland Terrace is incremental erosion of the original dominant, by virtue of scale, whilst the features – principally: loss of the original other three shorter length two storey timber sash windows and inappropriate terraces appear quite domestic. Portland replacement designs; painting the Terrace like the similar period stonework in varied pastel colours; development of Eslington Terrace has inappropriate and bulky dormer roof paired front doors and two storey extensions, large velux windows; projecting bay windows. unsympathetic rear extensions; UPVC Percy Terrace has inset panels of chequered cream and buff brickwork below the ground floor bay windows and a ‘dentil’ band above the window lintels. Hutton Terrace and Benton Terrace are similar to each other except for a subtle variation in brick colour and the use of ‘dentilled’ brickwork within the door surround and at eaves level on Hutton Terrace. • Percy Terrace None of the Victorian terrace houses have rainwater goods instead of cast iron; remained as family houses as designed visible metal security grilles to windows but are now predominantly in office use, a and air conditioning extracts. The few in multi-occupancy and there is one uniformity of these terraces, which is their restaurant. The impact of this is fundament characteristic has been witnessed by an impersonal appearance seriously eroded by these alterations. The and the demand for extra space both intrusion of the dormer roof extensions is externally and internally creating an compounded by the variation in design, architecture under ‘siege’. type of materials and colour.

30 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement ‘Scottish tenement’ type original offshoots. The late C20th three storey residential apartments of Middleton Court has successfully re-introduced purpose built housing into this sub-area. It is a very British type of pastiche scheme with small • Benton Terrace, Sandyford Road UPVC sash style windows and projecting Business signage is generally discreet; gablets. But the sympathetic brick colour, name boards beside the front door or artstone bands and modelled façade help applied lettering to the ground floor to meld the scheme successfully into the windows. On Osborne Terrace there are sub-area. The attention to the landscape some large sign boards set within the setting has made an important gardens which are obtrusive and detract contribution. To the street, small soft from the setting. The restaurant has yellow landscaped gardens set behind iron decorative canvas canopies over the railings and brick piers successfully ground floor windows and fluorescent emulate the design of the victorian lettering on the gable. Whilst they both are historically inappropriate they do indicate a ‘pride of place’ and a desire to invest which is obviously absent in much of this sub- area. The reduced traffic levels in Hutton Terrace are very noticeable. Sandyford Brewery which is shown • Middleton Court, Hutton Terrace on Thomas Olivers Map of 1844 creates a strong and historic stop-end to terraces. To the rear the large car park Hutton Terrace although it is outside the has been softened, apparently reduced by conservation area. The small rear yard to large planting beds. The planting scheme the Terrace has quite a Dickensian feel to is interesting with the additional benefit of it created by the setts and austere being scented. The former Drill Hall has undergone conversion to residential use. It is quite a restrained, built in the Queen Anne style with red brick and Georgian style windows. The Park Keeper’s House guards the entrance to the Portland Bowling green off Hutton Terrace. It is very dainty with ornate barge boards reminiscent of a railway • Hutton Terrace cottage with a pretty flowering garden

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 31 enclosed by low picket fencing. It is in Against the grain contrast to its setting; a car park and the • Nature of commercial usage within expansive grey rendered rear elevations this sub-area. of the Bus Station, which are industrial in • Loss of front gardens and original appearance and in a poor state of boundary treatment. maintenance. The bowling green is hidden from view by a green, close • Extensive hard surfacing and poor boarded timber fence, with the mature quality boundary treatments. trees of Newcastle General Cemetery • Intrusive Parking. beyond. This is a very lush and peaceful location. • Loss of original architectural features and poor maintenance, i.e. sash windows, rainwater goods, painting of stonework. • Inappropriate dormer roof extensions and velux windows. • Unattractive rear extensions. • Intrusive business signage and security measures. • The later extension to the bus station.

Key issues • Encourage uses that are more sympathetic to the character of the buildings and the area. • Restoration of front gardens, original • Park Keeper’s House boundary treatment and appropriate tree planting. Sub-area 2: Summary • Control of intrusive parking. Special characteristics • Control of intrusive business • Formality and uniformity of the late signage. Victorian terraces; Osborne Terrace, Portland Terrace, Percy Terrace, • Consider class order to re-instate Hutton Terrace and Benton Terrace. residential use. • The Classical frontage of the Bus Station. Enhancement Potential • Reinstate front gardens and original • Portland Bowls Green and boundary treatment caretaker’s cottage. • Traffic Management and parking • Soft landscaped front gardens. controls. • Original stone wall and metal railings • Establish uniform B.S. colour for the adjacent to the metro line. stonework. • Re-establish residential use.

32 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 3.3 Sub-area 3: Victorian brick and slate roof residences with simple detailing typical of the period; Crescent at Chester Ashlar dressings to the door and window Crescent (West Side) surrounds; ground floor projecting bay The mid Victorian Chester Crescent is an windows; a continuous ashlar string isolated feature separated from the courses at first floor window cill level and conservation area as a whole by the wide eaves level; sash windows and dainty half and heavily trafficked Sandyford Road. moon dormer windows. These properties Visual linkage is provided by the gable are very similar to the earlier constructed elevation of the Crescent and the strong terraces across Sandyford Road at front boundary treatment seen at a tangent Portland Terrace, Percy Terrace and receding into the distance. The original Benton Terrace. The terrace have sandstone plinths, gate piers and iron suffered with incremental erosion of the railings all remain backed by shrubs and building fabric which has also effected the mature trees which gives the appearance Crescent. Notably inappropriate of a small woodland. The lush planting replacement windows and the ashlar effectively screen almost any view of the dressing have been painted in various architecture from Portland Road. shades of white, cream and buff. The Principally all that is visible is the curved uniformity of the appearance of the roof shaped roofline as the land gradient has been lost by the insertion of large increases with distance from the road. A velux rooflights, wide flat roofed dormer triangular shaped municipal brick planter windows and the slates replaced in some at the junction of Sandyford Road and instances with brown concrete tiles. Portland Road is a token gesture to the The long front gardens and lush woodland loss of the Victorian domestic setting and planting of Chester Crescent make an the dominant connecting feature with sub- important contribution to the character of area 3.2. the Crescent. Privacy is given to these Nos 113 to 117 Shield Street, 179 and gardens by the screen planting and the 181 Portland Road in contrast have orientation of the garden path. The front narrow front gardens and are notably gates are placed centrally within each plot different for the absence of planting. Here whilst the front doors are off set. The the architecture is apparent. The Terrace section of angled path directly behind the and Crescent comprises of two storey buff gate is generally densely planted, this

• Shield Street/Portland Road

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 33 • Front gardens, Chester Crescent plant screen obscures a direct view of the • Continuous front boundary treatment house. Sometimes this has been of ashlar plinths and pillars with iron reinforced by timber fences set within the railings. gardens presumably as a wish for • Architecture of the Crescent almost increased privacy by the resident. The screened from the street by mature woodland nature of the planting also shrubs and trees. provides delight and continuity. Chester Crescent is a good example of Victorian residential development, one of Against the Grain the remaining few Crescents within the • Visible wooden fencing in the front City boundaries. The retention of these gardens. properties as family homes has protected • Loss of sash windows, insertion of many features that represent the special velux windows and flat roofed characteristics of this Crescent. The dormers. retention of this designed occupancy and • Painting of the stonework in various respect for the particular landscape shades of white, cream and buff. setting are essential to protect and retain this sub-area. Key Issues • Retention of residential use. Sub-area 3: Summary • Threat of inappropriate garden Special Characteristics treatment. • Victorian residential Crescent with long front gardens. • Replacement of mature TPO trees. • Angled front paths, mature protected trees and woodland type planting Enhancement Potential providing secrecy and privacy. • Article 4 Direction or design guide.

34 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 3.4 Sub-area 4: The Punch is the site of the former County Model Laundry built at the beginning of the Bowl Public House and the C20th, this site was later used as a Minories Government Depot. The Minories is a location of historic S Middlebrook in ‘Newcastle upon Tyne – importance within South Jesmond Its growth and achievement’ chronicles Conservation area as it is one of the the suburban development of the City. “A earliest developed sites. It is at the similar building burst took place meeting point of Jesmond Road, simultaneously in south Jesmond towards Sandyford Road and Benton Lane. the Ouseburn: and from the Minories to R J Charleton in his ‘History of Newcastle- Lansdowne Gardens in the years on-Tyne’ records this location in the Mary immediately before 1914.” Magdalene Hospital audits. In Parson and The historical background of the Minories White’s ‘Directory of Durham and provides an explanation for the shared Northumberland’ published in 1828 it ‘curved’ boundary with All Saints Cemetery states ‘near to Sandyford Bridge were a which otherwise has rectilinear few old houses which were called the boundaries set out from Jesmond Road Minories’. It is reasonable to assume that and Osborne Avenue. Minories House these properties were the ones shown on and the ‘Punch Bowl’ Public House now T Oliver’s Map of Newcastle in 1844. appear subsumed into the later suburban The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey of 1858 growth with All Saints Cemetery shows the Punch Bowl Public House, with separating it from the remainder of the a small dwelling behind called Ivy Cottage residential areas in this conservation area. and across a narrow lane to the west a Minories House, (formerly Shiners); is very square plan property, which is called prominent at the junction of Sandyford Minories house on the 2nd Edition Road and Jesmond Road. It is restrained Ordnance Survey of 1898. To the north and a good example of Victorian and included within the conservation area domestic architecture, the double fronted

• Minories House and the adjacent Punch Bowl Public House

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 35 Depot site is only visible from All Saints Cemetery. The four storey scale creates a stop-end. The design is late C20th pastiche, red brick, cream rendered panels, artstone dressings and UPVC victorian style windows. Regency Court and the accompanying development, Sovereign Court on Benton Bank make very powerful statements within the immediate location creating a new identity to this principle route into • Punch Bowl Public House Newcastle. façade and ashlar facing now painted cream indicating a residence of status. The west and north sides has attached a later two storey warehouse, constructed in brick with arch headed openings and Georgian style windows. The Punch Bowl Public House in • Sovereign Court contrast is eclectic, exemplifying High Victorian taste. Built in sandstone the Sub-area 4: Summary individual blocks have a rough hewn Special Characteristics appearance. A mixture of a slate clad french chateaux style roof, projecting and • Site of the land historically known as diminished third floor with small turrets at the Minories. each corner and deep moulded cornice • The Punch Bowl Public House and and tall gothic style windows on the first Minories House (formerly Shiners). floor. It is very distinctive both by virtue of design and location at the rise of Benton Bank. The recent residential development of Regency Court on the former government

36 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 3.5 Sub-area 5: Open Spaces with the new its trees will grow, and time will mellow its newness, but Newcastle General Cemetery, All Saints nothing can increase its sacred Cemetery and the County Cricket Ground. association in the hearts of This sub area consists of All Saints thousands of Newcastle people, at Cemetery and the County Cricket Ground home in the old town, and scattered to the north and Newcastle General over the face of the earth’. Cemetery to the south. It provides a vast Newcastle General Cemetery was open space in an otherwise developed designed in 1836 by the prominent local area. The area is severed and architect John Dobson. It is located south surrounded by the busy traffic arteries of of Jesmond Road, opposite All Saints Jesmond Road and Sandyford Road. Cemetery, and is included in the English R J Charleton in his History of Newcastle Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens upon Tyne 1885 affectionately wrote: of Special Historic Interest. The main ‘then there was only the Old entrance archway, located on Jesmond Cemetery along Jesmond Road; Road, is of austere classical composition, afterwards came the new one, which dominated by colossal sandstone ashlar for a long time looked bare and bald, gate piers. Loudon wrote of it in 1843 that with its newly planted saplings, it was ‘“the most appropriate cemetery through which the cold white lodge that he knew, because it can never tombstones were so distinctly seen; be mistaken for an entrance to a public so different from the old one over the park or to a country residence”. This way – a beautiful place, archway, along with the gates, chapels, overshadowed by luxuriant foliage, walls and southern lodge and gateway, are and now more beautiful than ever; for all Grade II* listed. Additionally, there are time, which elsewhere has destroyed a total of seven Grade II listed tombstones the rural features of the outskirts of within the cemetery. These are listed for Newcastle, has been all in favour of reasons of both historic interest and this retired city of the dead. And so architectural merit. One such tomb is aptly John Dobson’s.

• Newcastle General Cemetery

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 37 • All Saints Cemetery

The main driveway cuts through the centre shrubbery is carefully planted to create an of the cemetery, connecting the entrance intimate atmosphere, which is further archway, on Jesmond Road, to the enhanced by the unevenness of the southern entrance on Sandyford Road. At ground. The varied collection of tombs this southern end there is a lodge and a and tombstones add interest, pair of symmetrical chapels of sandstone demonstrating the talents of local ashlar construction. The Cemetery is craftsmen. surrounded by a two and a half meter high Newcastle General Cemetery is less well wall which acts as a visual and a noise maintained than All Saints Cemetery, barrier to the heavy traffic arteries which predominantly because it has ceased to surround the site. Road salt is causing be used as a municipal burial ground. erosion at the lower level facing the roads. This has resulted in poor path surfacing an The buildings, layout and planting was overgrowing of weeds, shrubs and trees designed by John Dobson. The intimate, which obstruct paths and hide organic layout of Newcastle General tombstones. This overgrown nature Cemetery is in sharp contrast to the contributes to the cemetery’s character formal, municipal design of All Saints and increases its range of habitats for Cemetery. Newcastle General Cemetery wildlife. has two informal areas of open space, All Saints Cemetery was developed in both given seclusion by trees and shrubs, 1853, with a later extension to the north. It and negotiated by organic serpentine is located to the north of Jesmond Road paths. The main drive runs through the and stretches as far as Osborne Avenue. centre of the site and a broad walk runs The main entrance on Jesmond Road is a parallel to the north and south walls. A Listed Grade II gothic style arched variety of mature tree species and entrance, with ornamental wrought iron

38 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement work gates, designed by Benjamin Green. a visual barrier onto the large open cricket Stone piers and iron railings, also Grade II field. The brown timber fence, topped by listed, define the boundary to Jesmond netting, on the Osborne Avenue side of the Road. The remainder of the cemetery is ground detracts from the character of the enclosed by a sandstone wall with the street. The modern cricket pavilion is exception of the northern extension which most visible from the eastern side. is a mixture of brick wall, privet hedging and timber board. In contrast to Sub -area 5: Summary Newcastle General Cemetery it has a welcoming appearance, the wide entrance Special Characteristics being reminiscent of a lych gate in the • Contribution of open space within a shape of praying hands and the adjacent built up environment railings providing openness and • Formal gateways, chapels and transparency to the site. boundary treatment of cemeteries The layout of the cemetery is formal and • Contrasting cemetery designs – the functional with a design based on a grid formal functional design of All Saints pattern of paths. The entrance gateway versus the informal, intimate design sets up a formal central axis which is of Newcastle General Cemetery flanked by symmetrical pair of mortuary chapels, also designed by Benjamin • Landscape design and mature trees, Green and listed Grade II. The layout is particularly of Newcastle General softened by rounded corners on the Cemetery northern perimeter and a rondpoint at the • Large impressive tomb stones, intersection between the chapels and the including 7 grade II listed tombs in main drive. Originally this rond-point Newcastle General Cemetery featured an impressive elm tree which unfortunately died of Dutch Elm Disease, leaving a vacant space and thus Against the Grain diminishing the impact of the entrance. • Busy traffic arteries sever and The gravestones are set out in grassed surround the site wards, between the gridded paths; these • Fence surrounding the County areas are further defined by avenues of Cricket Ground trees. The grander memorials are located in the wards adjacent to the main routes. There are a number of dead Elm trees Key Issues within the cemetery but replacement tree • Maintenance of open space planting is also evident, throughout. • Management of Newcastle General The noise of traffic from the neighbouring Cemetery Jesmond Road is significant, compromising the desired peaceful Enhancement Potential atmosphere of the cemetery, particularly at • Re-introduction of a tree on the rond- the southern side. An unsympathetic brick point in All Saints Cemetery utility building to the south-east of the site detracts from the setting of the entrance. • Carefully monitored maintenance of Newcastle General Cemetery The County Cricket Ground is situated on the south side of Osborne Avenue, next to • Replacement or maintenance of All Saints Cemetery. It is, understandably, fence and netting on Osborne surrounded by a high fence which acts as Avenue

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 39 • Oliver’s map of 1844

40 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement • 1st Edition O.S. map 1858

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 41 • 2nd Edition O.S. map 1898

42 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement • 3rd Edition O.S. map 1916

South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement 43 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Ordnance Survey map data used in this publication is provided by Newcastle City Council under licence from the Ordnance Survey in order to fulfil its public function as a planning authority.

Persons viewing this mapping wishing to use Ordnance Survey data should contact Ordnance Survey Copyright.

Photographs used in this document are copyright of Newcastle City Council unless stated otherwise.

Aerial photographs are copyright of: i) Getmapping/Bluesky International

44 South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement South Jesmond Conservation Area Character Statement © Getmapping/Bluesky International 2003

For further information contact: Historic Environment Section Urban Design & Conservation Group Planning and Transportation Division Regeneration Directorate Tel. No. 0191 2115625 Fax. No. 0191 2114998

This document was approved as Supplementary Planning Guidance on 21/12/2001 Updated: March 2007 www.newcastle.gov.uk