Benton Grange (Convent of the Good Shepherd)

Benton Grange was probably built for Matthew Liddell, manager of Gosforth Colliery around 1829. Immediately to the east stood Gosforth Row and Benton Row which was a mining community of around 630 persons by 1891. In 1888 the Convent of the Good Shepherd took over the house and buildings. The 1891 census lists 34 female inhabitants at the convent. 25 of them were laundry workers at the Jesmond and Gosforth Laundry opposite the convent. The Convent was demolished in the early 1980s and replaced by a residential estate called The Cloisters.