Tyne and Wear HER(11886): Monkseaton Conservation Area - Details
11886
N Tyneside
Monkseaton Conservation Area
Monkseaton
NZ37SW NZ37SE
Domestic
Settlement
Modern
C21
Documentary Evidence
Designated in 2005. The boundary of the Conservation Area is based on the historic Monkseaton village core (HER 741 and 742) and streets of housing of special local architectural or historic interest which stretch out north, south and east from the railway station (HER 9378). To the north and east of the village core is late C19 and early to mid C20 terraced and semi-detached housing (e.g. around Windsor Road, Eastfield Avenue and Valley Gardens) and to the south (Abbotsford Place and Norham Road) and mid C20 social housing (e.g. Hillheads). Monkseaton began as a small rural settlement of farms dating back to the time of Henry I (1100-1135) see HER 741. On 8 December 1551 Edward VI granted Monkseaton to Dudley, Earl of Warwick, later created Duke of Northumberland. On his death the village passed to Thomas, Earl of Northumberland. There was coal mining in Monkseaton from 1570. In 1570 it was granted by Elizabeth I to Sir Henry Percy, in whose family it remained until 1632. In 1640 Monkseaton and Whitley passed to the 10th Duke of Northumberland. Several streets have ducal names - e.g. Duke Street and Alnwick Street. Between 1801 and 1901 census records show that there were between 400 and 600 people living in Monkseaton. There were seven farms in Monkseaton in the C19 - Bygate Farm (HER 5875), East Farm, Monkseaton Farm, North Farm, North West Farm, South West Farm (HER 5873) and Village Farm. By 1850 there were 808 acres of arable land and 243 acres of meadow. There were said to be gates at either end of Front Street until about 1845, enclosing the village of farms and compelling travellers to bypass it on the through route around the southern edge (Bygate Road). In the C19 Monkseaton Brewery opened on Front Street (HER 1151). There were several inns - the original Black Horse Inn from 1793 stood where the replacement pub is today, the original Ship Inn was built in 1688, the Three Horse Shoes stood on Chapel Lane and the Seven Stars on The Fold (HER 6923). The Blyth and Tyne Railway (HER 1049) reached Monkseaton in the late 1850s but it was the completion of the route from Newcastle (HER 1086) in 1882 that increased the population. The station (HER 1942) in Monkseaton (Whitley Station until 1882) was built in 1860 and lasted until 1915. The existing station (HER 9378) is larger and was designed by William Bell, NER architect. The arrival of electric trains in 1904 caused the demise of Monkseaton as a rural village. In 1879 the Duke of Northumberland provided land for the Northumberland Village Homes (HER 7877). From 1905 new housing was developed north of the village at North Farm. North-east of the railway line large suburban housing grew around Marine Avenue and long terraces and wide streets of semi-detached houses were built south-east of the station. In 1923 the new Ship Inn was built next to the old one, which was demolished. A new Black Horse Inn was built in the 1930s. St. Peter's Church (HER 11355) was built in 1937 and St. Andrew's in 1938. Souter Park was laid out in the 1920s, named after a local councillor. Bygate Farm and Village Farm were redeveloped by 1916. Inside the original village oval the street pattern remained unchanged but Lyndhurst Road was inserted and The Fold redeveloped. New housing for the commuting middle classes increased in numbers until Monkseaton and Whitley Bay merged. In 1895 Whitley & Monkseaton Urban District Council was established. The two parishes merged in 1912. East Farm was the last working farm in Monkseaton. The land owner, the Duke of Northumberland, sold the farm land to Whitley Bay Council in 1958 for Churchill Playing Fields.
3468
7236
NZ34687236
North Tyneside Council Development Directorate, August 2006, Monkseaton Conservation Area Character Appraisal Draft