The two buildings now known as Bessie Surtees House stand on a stretch of Newcastle riverfront that has been used as a quayside since Roman times, when the first bridge was built over the Tyne. By the 16th century the commercial importance of the area was well established and many prominent merchants owned property here. The two buildings, originally numbers 41 and 44 Sandhill, were known respectively as Surtees House and Milbank House. Other houses further east along Sandhill are of a similar date.The Bessie Surtees House is part of the English Heritage, and admission to this gem was free. The public area is limited to the first floor (second story for North Americans) where there are three rooms open. All of the rooms are almost totally devoid of furnishings, thus allowing you to really see the Jacobean panelling, windows and fireplaces.
In the first room, the ceiling is a reenactment of what it would have been like with its corbelled style. The windows stretch the length of the room and include on blue pane. That pane is used to mark the windows that Bessie supposedly used when she eloped. The second room has a more "Georgian" feel because the windows are that deep Georgian variety. The third room, looking out the back of the house, is a true gem, the wall panelling is in original linen-fold, one of the oldest of kinds of wall paints. One of its tenants was Aubone Surtees, whose daughter Bessie is said to have eloped in 1722 from a first-floor window with John Scott, a coal merchant's son. They ran away to Scotland where they were married (and were remarried in Newcastle after the families were reconciled). Scott eventually became a successful lawyer and as Lord Eldon, Lord Chancellor of England.
From the late 18th century the richer merchants of Newcastle moved from the busy quayside to the more fashionable suburbs. The houses were divided up and let, and subsequently entered a period of slow decline. The houses were eventually united by John Clayton, who owned Surtees House from 1880 and later bought Milbank House. In 1930 they were bought by SR Vereker, later Lord Gort, whose wife was descended from the Eldons. He employed an engineer, RF Wilkinson, to restore the houses using 17th-century architectural fittings salvaged from properties which were due to be demolished.
Bessie Surtees House was bought from the Gort estate by Newcastle City Council in 1978 and leased to English Heritage in 1989. The rooms on the first floor are now open to visitors, while the rest of the building is used as offices.
The buildings are rare examples of Jacobean domestic architecture, built towards the end of the timber-framing tradition. Both are five storeys high and had shops or stores at ground level with living accommodation above. Milbank House as constructed in the 16th century but was refronted in red brick on the early 18th century. Its original timber-framed structure is now concealed behind a Georgian facade with elegant sash windows and shutters.
Surtees House is a 17th century structure with overhearing storeys above the ground floor. It has retained its original facade, featuring plasterwork decorated with classical details. The interior, in particular the principal room on the first floor, has fine carved oak panelling, elaborate plaster ceilings and carved fire surrounds.
From the late 18th century the richer merchants of Newcastle moved from the busy quayside to the more fashionable suburbs. The houses were divided up and let, and subsequently entered a period of slow decline. The houses were eventually united by John Clayton, who owned Surtees House from 1880 and later bought Milbank House. In 1930 they were bought by SR Vereker, later Lord Gort, whose wife was descended from the Eldons. He employed an engineer, RF Wilkinson, to restore the houses using 17th-century architectural fittings salvaged from properties which were due to be demolished.
Bessie Surtees House was bought from the Gort estate by Newcastle City Council in 1978 and leased to English Heritage in 1989. The rooms on the first floor are now open to visitors, while the rest of the building is used as offices.
The buildings are rare examples of Jacobean domestic architecture, built towards the end of the timber-framing tradition. Both are five storeys high and had shops or stores at ground level with living accommodation above. Milbank House as constructed in the 16th century but was refronted in red brick on the early 18th century. Its original timber-framed structure is now concealed behind a Georgian facade with elegant sash windows and shutters.
Surtees House is a 17th century structure with overhearing storeys above the ground floor. It has retained its original facade, featuring plasterwork decorated with classical details. The interior, in particular the principal room on the first floor, has fine carved oak panelling, elaborate plaster ceilings and carved fire surrounds.
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