Messenger House

Messenger House is an early 19th-century house located in Consett, near Shotley Bridge. Constructed of coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings and quoins, it features a Welsh slate roof and chimneys of ashlar and yellow brick. The building is three storeys and three bays wide. The central doorway has a flat stone surround and overlight, while the windows have flat stone lintels and projecting stone sills. The ground floor and left-hand first-floor windows have sash windows with glazing bars, while the other windows are boarded up. A blind window is present on the second floor, to the left. The front has a tall ashlar chimney with a plinth and cornice. A yellow brick chimney is located on the left. The right return, situated on higher ground, extends for two storeys and four bays, accessed by steps leading to a boarded door and overlight in a plain stone surround. Most of the windows here are sash windows with glazing bars. A foot scraper is situated on the steps. The house is named after the Reverend John Messenger, who resided there and served as minister of St. John’s Church from 1837 to 1841. It was empty and derelict at the time of the survey.