Stella, Path Head Farmstead and Corn Mill

HER Number:
1679

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Stella, Path Head Farmstead and Corn Mill

Place:
Stella

Map Sheet:
NZ16SE

Class:
Agriculture and Subsistence

Site Type: Broad:
Farm

Site Type: Specific:
Farmstead

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Extant Building

Description:
The once picturesque village of Path Head was for centuries connected with the Nunnery at Stella Hall. Path Head Farm, once belonging to the Cowen's of Stella Hall (HER ref. 1694), played an important role in the economy of the area providing horses and other services to the horse drawn wagonways and coal mines in the area. Of the surviving buildings, the mill appears to be slightly later in construction, but documentary evidence suggests that the mill pre-dates the main farm buildings, the layout of which suggests a date prior to the mid 19th century. The documentary investigation of this site is complicated by the existence of a further watermill on the banks of the Blaydon Burn, which is also referred to as Path Head Mill (HER ref. 3423). The buildings, with the exception of the later farmhouse, dating from the early years of the 20th century, were in place by the mid 1850s. The corn mill and leat were restored by the Vale Mill Trust in 1995-6, and the farmhouse and outbuildings were converted for residential use soon after. LOCAL LIST

Easting:
1734

Northing:
6343

Grid Reference:
NZ17346343

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1679 >> I. Ayris, 1995, Path Head Farm and Mill Gateshead MBC, 1995, Path Head, Stella notes with regard to sale of freehold R. Woodcock, 1995, Trevor goes shopping to help save historic mill, Herald and Post, September 20, 1995, p 3 P. Jubb, 1988, Path Head Corn Mill, Architectural Analysis of Buildings on Site T. Yellowley, 1986, Stella and Blaydon Burn Path Head or Peth Head D. Hutt (ed), North East Mills Group, 1998 Mills, Old, New & Reused leaflet; W. Bourn, 1896, History of the Parish of Ryton, pp 52-53; Gateshead Council, 1999, Conservation Area Policy Guidelines, Strategies and Character Statements, Path Head Conservation Area, p 54-57; Gateshead Council Local List X20/LL/191; Mark Bruce, A SURVEY OF 18th AND 19th CENTURY FARM BUILDINGS AT PATH HEAD, BLAYDON