Landmark In Gateshead, Tyne And Wear
An octagonal folly, once part of the Stella Hall estate in Blaydon.
The Summerhill was once part of the grounds of Stella Hall, which is now a housing estate in Blaydon.
Stella Hall was originally a medieval manor house given by the Bishop of Durham, William of St Barbara, to the nuns of Newcastle in the 1100s. It remained a nunnery until the dissolution of the monasteries in the mid 1500s. The house passed through several hands and one of it's famous visitors was Oliver Cromwell in 1651.
Joseph Cowen was born at Stella Hall in 1829. Joseph was a popular and influential politician and was MP for Newcastle from 1874-1886. He also wanted to improve lives for the working classes and was responsible for creating a public library for Newcastle.
Cowen was well liked and was friends with Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. (Name dropper!) He entertained Garibaldi at Stella Hall, presumably with tea and biscuits and in 1867, he erected a statue of Garibaldi at the hall. The statue was destroyed in 1900, allegedly knocked over by a cow, but the head of the statue survived and is on display at Blaydon Library.
There is a statue dedicated to Joseph Cowen on Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne. You may have spotted it outside the Assembly Rooms.
The house remained in the Cowen family until Jane Cowen's death in 1946 and the hall was demolished in 1954, however, The Summerhill folly still exists as a reminder of the history in Blaydon.
There are some lovely walks around The Summerhill and great views overlooking the Tyne. The woods around it link to the Blaydon Burn and Path Head Water Mill which is also worth a visit.
Get 3 points if you have visited this place. Already visited by 11 VIPs.
Login to the VIP area to add places to your bucket list, mark them as visited and more importantly see where you rank on the league table.
What three words
comet.winter.shunts
Lat / Long
54.965974, -1.725174
Show Place On Google Maps
From the parking spot, cross over the road and you will see an entrance to a field on your right. If you enter the field, the Summerhill is a few minutes walk away.
What three words
thanks.soak.monks
Lat / Long
54.965085, -1.729167
We parked on a piece of disused road opposite the entrance to Path Head Water Mill.
Contributed by Sandra Clemens
I love the great outdoors and have been a National Trust & English Heritage member for years. I also love going off the beaten track and finding places like Sharp's Folly or Rothley Castle which are hidden gems in Northumberland. My favourite recent hike was climbing Red Screes in the Lake District on a whim, not fully grasping how high 776m was. It was still an achievement to conquer a Wainwright walk and I hope to do more one day.
Two drinking fountains given to the people of Blaydon by Joseph Cowen in the 1860s.
24 hectare park with lake, woodland and waymarked paths in the heart of Gateshead.
A beautiful folly set in the grounds of the Gibside estate which is now a holiday home.
A replica of the gibbet used to display the body of the murderer William Winter.
An historic market place in the centre of Stanhope and the location of the Market Cross, a Petrified Tree Stump, the War Memorial and St Thomas Church.
The longest surviving section of 'broad wall' on Hadrians Wall.
We post all our new places daily on our Facebook Groups page, so join the group today and be notified when we add a new place.