Benton Conservation Area

HER Number:
12146

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
Benton Conservation Area

Place:
Benton

Map Sheet:
NZ26NE

Class:
Domestic

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Settlement

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C21

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Designated in March 2007. The boundary is based on Victorian and Edwardian suburban development in Benton and Forest Hall. Suburban growth features lower density detached or semi-detached houses with large back gardens such as the east side of Tynedale Terrace, Grange Avenue and Northumberland Avenue and terraced houses with small front gardens and back yards (e.g. north side of Clifton Terrace, east side of East Avenue and Queens Gardens). Benton had a great number of large houses set in extensive grounds. Some of these remain (e.g. Grove Cottage and The Gables on Thornhill Road) but others have been lost and the plots filled by modern housing - Craigmont Court was built in the 1960s or 70s on the site of Craigmont mansion and The Beeches has been built on the site of Westbourne. Open spaces within the CA include Benton Quarry Park and St. Bartholomew's churchyard. Benton's finest buildings include Field House, The Grange, Hillcrest, The Gables and 29 and 31 Lyndhurst Road. West Avenue and The Grove are worthy of mention. The metro station and the churches of St. Andrew and St. Bartholomew have true landmark qualities. Planned terraces include East Avenue, Queens Gardens and Clifton Terrace. Sandstone is used on bay windows, porches, door surrounds and quoins on brick houses. The Oval uses non-local red sandstone. The Ship Inn is built of smooth red late Victorian and Edwardian brick, like the metro station. The early to mid C20 semis on Midhurst Road and The Exchange are built in darker brown brick. Brick is used for architectural detailing to highlight windows (4 Grange Avenue), doors (25 Clifton Terrace), gables (The Grange), eaves (Queens Gardens) and chimneys (Clifton Terrace). Bricks are used for quoins (10 Tynedale Terrace) and as patterning (Station Approach). Roughcast render such as that on the first floor of The Oval, was used extensively in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. No. 1 Sandringham Avenue was a newsagents for over 100 years. Now as Black's it has lost its historic shopfront and has a plastic sign, new windows and roller shutters. Land to the east is a former quarry (HER 1124). Part of the railway infrastructure consists of the 'Benton Curve', a disued railway line that has been left to grow, forming a rich wildlife habitat.

Easting:
2784

Northing:
6900

Grid Reference:
NZ27846900

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
North Tyneside Council, 2007, Longbenton and Benton Conservation Areas Character Appraisal; W.G. Elliott and Edwin Smith, 1999, Bygone Days of Longbenton, Benton, Forest Hall, West Moor and Killingworth; W.G. Elliott, 2000, Bygone Days of Longbenton, Benton, Forest Hall, West Moor, Killingworth, Palmersville and Benton Square; W.G. Elliott, 2002, The Parish and Church of St. Bartholomew, Longbenton - A Social History