Shepherds Dene

Shepherds Dene is a house built in 1906–7 and now used as a retreat and conference centre. The architect is unknown, though alterations in 1938 may have been by W Dixon. The building is constructed of snecked sandstone with ashlar dressings and a plinth coping. The roof is graduated stone slate with roll-moulded ridges and tall chimneys with plain projecting coping.

The building follows a modified butterfly plan, with the main entrance on the short west front and the west wing serving as the principal family block. It is two storeys with dormers to the service wing having flat roofs and simple mullions. All windows are stone mullioned with most having transoms, irregular block jambs, and flush sills and lintels. Label moulds appear over all windows except the first floor north front of the main wing, which has a string course instead, and the upper floor of the service wing, which has deep eaves. Most windows retain their original leaded lights.

The west front features an open porch to the left under a wide gable with a shallow gabled roof supported on rustic posts. The gable is filled with weather-boarding and contains an early sheet metal gas light fitting. The porch door has blind Gothic tracery and a shallow pointed arched overlight with leaded lights. To the right of the gable is a small 3-light window, with a 3-light window above and a tall stair window to the right containing three rows of four lights. A small 2-light window sits in the gable peak. A single storey extension with pitched roof projects to the right, featuring a 3-light window and single light window above.

The south garden front is the principal elevation. It contains four windows, the outer pair set in projecting gabled bays. The centre is dominated by a loggia with paired Doric columns supporting a stone-fronted timber balcony with a wrought iron balustrade. A diagonally set doorway sits in the angle between the right gable and the centre.

Interior features include ceiling cornices in the principal rooms on ground and first floors. Ground floor principal rooms have doors with blind Gothic tracery. Nearly all rooms retain their original fireplaces. All windows are metal casements with Critall-type fittings in individual styles, and many retain original leading and shutters. Some original radiators survive.

The entrance lobby has an inner door in a screen with stained glass lights, leading to a panelled vestibule and small side room. A large hall beyond has wood panelled walls and a carved stone chimney piece with Delft tiles. The staircase off the hall incorporates re-used 17th-century barley-sugar and turned balusters supporting a moulded grip handrail. Some panelling also incorporates older pieces.

The chapel, originally a drawing or music room, opens off the hall and has been extended to form the pitched roofed extension visible on the west front, probably built post-war using original windows. A vestry has been incorporated and the original fireplace has been lost. The dining room off the corridor from the hall has two doors and a high quality wooden floor in a mitred pattern around the edge with pine boards in the centre. It features a panelled dado and a plaster frieze of low-relief swags. Panelling at the east end incorporates historic panels with inlaid decoration. A wide panelled surround frames an inglenook fireplace with a service bell at waist height. The fireplace has a beaten copper hood, dark blue tiles, and a mantel supported by carved heads. Two other rooms off the corridor retain their fireplaces, with the southern room having a door to the terrace, formerly separated from the room by a corridor from the main corridor.

A corridor leads to the service wing, beyond which it narrows. Service rooms retain their original plan and much original detail, with food storage and preparation positioned on the cooler north face. A former service yard at the east end was filled in 1938 with a stair providing access to an extra room above.

The lower part of the service corridor retains embossed wallpaper which may date to the early 20th century. The first floor principal rooms have chimney pieces of various designs in 18th-century style. Most windows have window seats set on wooden supports. The service stair has turned newels, stick balusters, and a moulded handrail. At attic level the landing balustrade is higher with a high tapered newel. The attic rooms were rearranged in 1938 to provide a corridor and separate doors for each, having previously been interconnected. They are lined with tongue-and-groove boarding, most probably dating to 1938 with later alterations.

The house was originally built for D.S. Marjoribanks in 1906 and was then named Shepherd's Bank. It was sold in 1921 to G.S. Newall and renamed Shepherd's Dene. Alterations approved in 1938 included the conversion of the attic rooms to provide separate access. The house may have been used for evacuees during the Second World War and possibly as a convalescent home. In 1946 G.S. Newall gave the house to the Diocese of Newcastle, and it has since been used as a retreat and conference centre.