The Mitre Public House

NZ 26 SW NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE BENWELL LANE (north side)

11/94 The Mitre Public House (formerly listed as Benwhll 17.12.71 Towers). -

GV II

House, later bishop's house and chapel, now public house. 1831 by John Dobson for Thomas Crawhall; chapel added 1887. Ashlar with plinth; rendered ashlar and coursed squared sandstone left wing; Welsh slate roof to chapel. Main house roof not visible, other roofs graduated Lakeland slate and Welsh slate. Main house: irregular plan, castle style. 2 high storeys, scattered fenestration. Projecting third bay contains double panelled door in Tudor arch. Windows of 2, 3 and 4 lights, some blind, with chamfered stone mullions and transoms and drip moulds. Battlemented parapet to roof with central turret. Left wing: 2 storeys, 8 bays and 3-bay house at left in plain style; sash windows and blind windows; hipped roofs. Former chapel at rear in Perpendicular style has 4 bays and linking bay with oriel window. Interior shows closed-string stair with barley-sugar balustrade, grip handrail and newels with pendants. Library has Jacobean-style panelling and ceiling. Panelled ceilings with Tudor bosses in other ground floor rooms; marble chimney pieces. Historical note: donated in 1881 by J.W. Pease, the Quaker banker, to the Diocese of Newcastle created in 1882. The previous building on the site, the home of the Shafto family; incorporated a tower house. Sources: W.H.Knowles "Benwell Tower, Newcastle" Archaeologia Aeliana series 2 vol. XIX, pp 88-98; W.S.F. Pickering (ed.) A Social History of the Diocese of Newcastle 1882-1982 1982, pp 47-49.

Listing NGR: NZ2117064485