Bensham, Coatsworth Road, Honeysuckle Public House

HER Number:
7426

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Bensham, Coatsworth Road, Honeysuckle Public House

Place:
Bensham

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Commercial

Site Type: Broad:
Licensed Premises

Site Type: Specific:
Public House

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Extant Building

Description:
Rebuilt in the 1920s in an ornate and obtrusive late Edwardian style in red brick and with stone dressings to its arched windows, a corner turret and accentuated gables {2}. DESCRIPTION / STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE This pub was rebuilt in the 1920s, towards the end of the great wave of rebuilding in Gateshead, exhibiting a certain commonality with the Blue Bell on the High Street in its use of granite and narrow, tall chimneys. It features a corner turret, a modest expression of the prevalent style, but otherwise is utterly unrestrained, utilising a cheerful variety of materials and a welter of detail. Standing on a pink granite moulded plinth, it then ascends through sandstone pilasters to a red brick upper storey with stone details, terminating in a graduated slate roof. The overall appearance is rather expansive and bustling, with every inch of the ground floor filled with the broad arched windows, slightly more modest sashes to the 1st floor, and the roof busy with turret, chimneys and dormers. The chimney to the front sports a whimsical dormer feature, quite idiosyncratic and possibly unique. An elaborate door canopy over the quadruple door to the corner completes the picture of conviviality, most suitable for a public house. Of particular interest are the leaded lights with coloured margin detail, with dentil moulding to the lower windows, and the curved windows to the corner, requiring that extra degree of craftsmanship, perhaps denoting a building designed to imply the wealth of its owners. It is pleasing that even the cast iron rainwater goods remain, and although the extension has a large footprint it is low and quite sympathetically designed, not detracting from the character of the original building. MATERIALS Pink granite, red brick, sandstone, timber, leaded lights LOCAL LIST

Easting:
2521

Northing:
6238

Grid Reference:
NZ25216238

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Gateshead Council Local List Fact Sheet X20/LL/044; Gateshead Council, 1999, Conservation Area Policy Guidelines, Strategies and Character Statements, Coatsworth Conservation Area, pp 25-31