Low Fell

Prior to 1809, Low Fell was part of Gateshead Fell; itself a constituent part of the ancient County of Durham.[3] Once described as a "windswept, barren and treacherous heath",[2] it took its name from nearby Gateshead and the fact that the area was "a fell or common contigious to it".[4] That portion of Gateshead Fell which would later become Low Fell was, in the 1640s, little more than boggy marsh and wetlands owned by the Bishop of Durham who simply divided the land into plots and rented them to the few tenants willing to pay for them.[5] By the 18th century, the lower section of Gateshead Fell consisted broadly of sparsely populated farm and woodland, demarcated from the section of Gateshead Fell which was to become Sheriff Hill by a boundary formed by a mound of earth.[6]

In 1771, the number of settlers on Gateshead Fell increased as a result of the 'Great Flood of 1771', during which the rivers Tyne, Wear and Tees all burst their banks, causing people to lose their homes.[7] By this time, however, Gateshead Fell had become a place of considerable notoriety, both for the bleakness of the land and for the criminality undertaken upon it.[8] When theologian John Wesley arrived in a blizzard in 1785, he found a "pathless waste of white"[3] inhabited predominantly by tinkers, gypsies, pitmen and quarrymen.[9]

In 1809 an Act was obtained ordering the enclosure of Gateshead Fell.[10]

Carter's Well and its blue plaque

The Inclosure Act separated Gateshead Fell into Wrekenton and Sheriff Hill (collectively High Fell) plus Low Fell. Commissioners were appointed to settle claims in land and to apportion Gateshead Fell accordingly. Plans were laid for the requisition and construction of wells (including Carter's Well; located on Durham Road and accompanied today by a commemorative Gateshead blue plaque[11]), quarries, drains, roads, watering places and other essential requirements.[10] Progress was slow, with the last allotment disputes not settled until 1822,[9] but by the time of completion, Gateshead Fell was entirely enclosed and effectively consigned to history.[12] The divisions of Gateshead Fell have remained more or less settled, so that the villages created by enclosure have survived, almost entirely intact, to the present day.[12]

After enclosure, 'civilisation came to the Fell'.[9] This began with the building of a new road. The only major road through Gateshead Fell was that which followed the same route of the ancient turnpike road which ran through what is now Sheriff Hill (today this is Old Durham Road/Sheriffs Highway). The turnpike road was very steep and was deemed rather unsatisfactory:

Why should coaches have to labour up the long hill from Newcastle to the top of Gateshead Fell, and then go down the steep descent to the Coach & Horses inn just before Birtley, while those coming from the south had to climb and descend the hills in reverse? There must be a new road with better gradients...[13]

The Cannon Inn circa 2012. In the formative development of the settlement this pub was a major social focal point.

Until 1824 there was still about a mile of farmland between Gateshead and Low Fell, though the land was far less severe than that leading to Sheriff Hill and Wrekenton, so plans were drawn to build a new road through the farmland, Low Fell and towards Durham.[10] Work began on this new road on 6 December 1824 and took some eighteen months to complete so that the first mail coach travelled on the new road, today known as Durham Road, on 17 June 1826.[14] Thomas Wilson used to call this road "the road through the fields";[15] a description which was said to have suited the road well until at least the turn of the 20th century.[16]

The opening of the new road saw people drawn to an area which now attracted considerable trade, travel and through–fare.[14] Robert Clements, proprietor of the Old Cannon Inn at Sheriff Hill, quickly foresaw the likely detrimental effect that the new road would have on his business and opened the New Cannon Inn on the corner of Durham Road and Buck Lane (now Beaconsfield Road) in 1826– the same year that the Sheriff's March was re–routed from Sheriff Hill to the new road through Low Fell.[14][17] Despite the cessation of the Sheriff's March in 1838,[18] Clements' establishment became "the social centre of the growing village, where concerts, dinners and meetings of all kinds were held".[19]

Wilsons's Literary Rooms, opened at Durham Road in 1841. It later became LLoyds bank, then lay unused for some time before its renovation in 2013 to an upmarket bar "The Bank".

New, adjoining roads gradually began to appear, such as Lamesley Road, which later became Kells Lane, and Low Fell Road, which became Beaconsfield Road and Belle Vue Bank.[20] In January 1841, local poet Thomas Wilson bought land on Durham Road and opened literary rooms which were opened in November 1841.[14] The upper section of the literary rooms was used as a school for local children until the opening of a new school on a site at Kells Lane in 1895.[21] In the 1880s there was a decade of intensive building and the population of the village increased accordingly.[19] The relative tranquility of the village, coupled with scenic views of surrounding hills and countryside, attracted rich industrialists from nearby Newcastle–upon–Tyne, seeking an alternative to the dirt and noise of industrial Newcastle and Gateshead.[22] These individuals duly built and lived in mansion property in the area.[23] One such property, Heathfield, was a mansion located on Durham Road which was built and owned by a wealthy chemical manufacturer who kept bears in his substantial adjoining grounds.[19]

Through the early 20th century, the village continued to expand towards Gateshead,[24] though even in the interwar–years "children could play marbles on Durham Road in perfect safety".[19] However, by the turn of World War II in 1945, Gateshead itself has expanded so much that the urban sprawl had removed much of the scenic panorama which had delighted settlers in the suburb a century earlier.[19] In spite of these developments:

By 1939, Low Fell had become the select suburb of Gateshead and had substantial and independent shopping facilities. All of the houses between Shipcote and the village were private and the owners added 'Low Fell' to their addresses, at times not even mentioning Gateshead, although, if we adhere to the original boundaries, they did not live in Low Fell at all".[24]

The village changed little in either character or structure after the end of World War II,[25] though in 1965 plans were drawn for the further development of Durham Road which drew criticism from residents.[26] By 1974, when the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead was formed, Low Fell had transformed from those early, village days and was by that time a bustling suburb with a considerable independent commercial hub attracting a high volume of vehicular traffic.[19] That character is relatively unchanged today, but Low Fell remains one of the most attractive places to live in the North East of England, retaining a distinctive village feel and containing a thriving community of shops, restaurants, schools and churches.[27]

Underhill, 99 Kells Lane

Low Fell is home to numerous buildings listed by English Heritage.

Underhill, at 99 Kells Lane, is a Grade II* listed building.[65] It was the home of Sir Joseph Wilson Swan between 1869 and 1883[66] and was the site of many pioneering experiments in photographic processing and in electricity.[67] Described as "a large, unlovely polychrome villa",[68] Underhill is triple gabled, and built of roughly dressed sandstone, and was the first private residence in the world to be lit by electric light. It later became a school, and is now retirement sheltered housing.[69]

The blue plaque at Home House

231 Kells Lane is the location of Home House. This fine early 19th century, symmetrical, ashlar and sandstone property[70] was the family home of the Dodds sisters, and is also a Grade II listed building.[71] At the southern edge of Durham Road is Carter's Well,[72] the first of the notable buildings and items of interest on that road. 516 Durham Road houses "a stone building with a domestic air".[73] This Grade II listed building[74] was the literary room built by local subscription at the instigation of Thomas Wilson in 1841.[69] Designed by Thomas Oliver, the building was used as a bank[75] and is now The Bank Restaurant and Bar. Immediately adjacent to the Literary Rooms is a Grade II listed[76] South African War memorial, dated 1903, and signed 'Morrison'.[73] Located close to the main shopping centre on Durham Road lies Whinney House, a large villa built in 1865 by local resident Edward Joicey. It is now being converted into luxury flats.[77] An impressive hexagonal based, stone fountain which has Grade II listed status is still in evidence.[78]

Travelling further along Durham Road towards Gateshead are two more Grade II listed buildings. The first is Heathfield House,[79] a two-story villa built by John Wardle (designer of St Helen's Church) in 1865[77] and Musgrave House,[80] an ashlar villa with raised quoins built in 1854–5 which has been used as a school, but is no longer so.[77] Both buildings are now converted to private flats.

St Helen's Church, Low Fell

The most prominent church in Low Fell is St Helen's Church, a Gothic revival church built from rock–faced sandstone with ashlar details.[81] Costing £13,000[82] and paid for "by the laudable benevolence of Edward Joicey",[83] the foundation stone of St Helen's was laid on 29 October 1873 and the church was consecrated on 29 August 1876.[84] The result is "a lovely church" located on Belle Vue Bank[82] which benefits from a number of high quality, stained–glass windows.[81] and a Father Willis organ, built for the church and rebuilt in 1949 by H Vincent of Sunderland. St Helen's is now a Grade II* listed building.[85]

Also a Grade II listed building is the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church.[86] Built on a steeply sloping site on Durham Road in 1882 and opened in January 1883,[87] this church is a "pleasing and individual adaptation of early Gothic design", built in tooled sandstone with Welsh slate roof–tiles.[88] There are two further churches in the suburb. These are Denewell Avenue Church and St Peter's. The former was a presbyterian church - now United Reformed Church, located on the corner of Denewell Avenue and Dryden Road which was formed originally in 1907 when a wood and corrugated iron building was erected on a site purchased for £480.[89] This building was soon demolished and replaced with a new building which opened on Good Friday, 10 April 1914.[90] St Peter's, meanwhile, is a Roman Catholic located on Kells Lane which opened in 1962.[91]

The Beaconsfield, Low Fell.

Low Fell is home to numerous public houses. The New Cannon was established on Durham Road in 1826 and soon became something of a social hub for the village, hosting travelling troupes, lessons in quadrille dancing[92] and hosting plays from visiting theatre as early as the 1820–30s.[12] So successful was the New Cannon that in those formative years it "monopolised trade on the new major route and was, in fact, the centre of village life".[21] The Cannon Inn still survives today, along with other public houses such as the Black Horse on Kells Lane, the Buck (now The Beaconsfield) on Beaconsfield Road (formerly Buck Lane), the Crown (now the Tap at Carters Well) and the Gateshead Arms on Durham Road. All of these venues were in existence prior to 1858.[53]

The suburb was also once home to a pair of cinemas; the Classic and the Capitol (confusingly, this cinema was also later named 'The Classic'). The original Classic was located on Kells Lane and was opened in 1928, whilst the Capitol was located on Durham Road and opened in 1936.[93] Both closed prior to the turn of the 21st century.