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Farms & Fields Jump to: | South West Farm | Fancy Field | Red House Farm | Monkseaton Farms |
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Out of a total of fourteen recorded farms in Monkseaton, South West Farm was one of the smallest. The farm dates from the early 1700s, and occupied an area of almost 244 acres of land, however many documents relating to this farm are missing or incomplete, so details tend to be very sketchy, and therefore many calculated assumptions have been made over the years. According to details taken from an old tithe map, the farmland radiated outwards to the west in a triangular shape from Chapel Lane, and roughly encompassed the area now enclosed by Front Street, Cauldwell Lane, Seatonville Road and Bromley Avenue. It also included a square of land to the west of Seatonville Road, enclosed by the present housing built between Cauldwell Avenue and Athol Gardens to the boundary which includes Langley Playing Fields. Other maps indicate that fields extending south towards Hillheads, and recorded under neighbouring South Farm, also formed part of South West Farm. To a certain extent, nearly all of the old South West farm buildings still remain. The actual farmhouse is situated within the original stackyard, just off Chapel Lane, to the rear of Bygate Road. When Chapel Lane was widened in 1952, the old stackyard wall was demolished and rebuilt slightly to the east, however it still remains, and encloses new luxury apartments to the rear of the present Spar shop. The large stone buildings which back onto Chapel Lane have undergone a number of different uses over the years, including storage and garaging, and latterly offices with facilities for a Funeral Furnisher. The outbuildings and byres facing Front Street were altered and converted in the early 1950s to become a showroom and offices for a local builders merchant, R.A. Gofton, and named ‘Corner House'. In later years, the showroom was renovated and became a small supermarket, eventually being taken over by the Spar Group to become a large convenience store. Return to top of page... |
Over one hundred years ago, and up to the very early 1900s, in order to walk from Whitley to Monkseaton Village it was necessary to follow a pretty country field path, which followed the course of the present Norham Road. This path then crossed over the railway lines towards what is now Marmion Terrace. It was this point which formed the eastern edge of what was commonly known as 'Fancy Field', a part of North-East or 'Village Farm', bounded to the south by Bygate Farm. Immediately after crossing the railway lines, the pathway then ran between two wooden gates and continued into the South Eastern corner of Monkseaton Village, closely following the route of what was later to become St Ronan's Road. Studying this 1893 illustration by Thomas Eyre Macklin, we have our back to the railway lines, looking west from a point close to what is now the 90º corner of Marmion Terrace and St. Ronan's Road. Bygate Farm buildings can be seen at the far end of the pathway, and the remaining structures and hedgerow follow the line of Coronation Crescent. The large whitewashed building and tall chimney to the right belong to Monkseaton Brewery on Front Street. Horses and cattle grazed freely here, and 'Fancy Field' disappeared when the present housing including Kensington Gardens, Kenilworth Road, Waverley Avenue and Melrose Avenue were laid out in the early 1900s. The origin of this colourful field name remains a mystery. Return to top of page... |
Probably one of the best known but smaller farms within the boundary of old Monkseaton was Red House Farm. Contrary to popular opinion, the housing estate bearing this name was not actually built on these lands, but was instead constructed entirely within the field boundary of neighbouring North West Farm. The lands belonging to the original Red House Farm actually stood slightly further to the North, where a majority of Beaumont Park Estate was laid out, and the actual Farmhouse and Stackyard stood on ground to the rear of Southridge First School between the end of Earnshaw Way and Chevington Grove. Return to top of page... |
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Monkseaton Farms It is difficult to imagine that up to the end of the 1800s, Monkseaton was just a tiny village, surrounded by dozens of fields and farms. At this time, the nearest villages were Earsdon to the North, Preston to the South, Murton and New York to the West, and Whitley to the East. The plan shown below is based on an old 1850 tithe map, showing a total of 14 different farms which were recorded in Monkseaton, the lands of which nearly all radiated outwards from the village centre. Several fields within each area of farmland were sometimes allocated names, which made them easily identifiable to the individual farmers, and those that are known are indicated on the accompanying list.
In Monkseaton Village, Pykerley Road is a name derived from Far Pickerlaw or Peckerlaw Hill which also stood within the boundary of Northwest Farm, as well as Hill Field, from nearby North Farm. Some other obvious assumptions can be made from names such as 'Wellfield', 'Springfield' and 'Closefield'. The largest farm in the area was North West Farm, which covered an area of over 184 acres and extended north from Cauldwell Lane towards Earsdon Village and the smallest; Bygate Farm covered an area of around only 23 acres and was situated to the south of Bygate Road and St. Ronan's Road. Others included East Farm, North East (Village Farm), Red House Farm, North Farm, West Farm, South West Farm, Seatonville Farm, Burnt House Farm, Rake House Farm, South Farm, Hill Heads Farm and Blacksmiths Farm, (sometimes referred to as Dickies Holm Farm). An area of common land known as Chamberlain's Meadow took in the area now occupied by Monkseaton First School and part of Churchill, Roker and Maple Avenue. Since 1850, many fields and farms were sold off to accommodate housing and expanding development, as a result of which, some newer and smaller farms came into being. These included Newsteads Farm at West Monkseaton from within the lands of North West Farm, and also Burnt House Nurseries, which were created from the last remaining fields of Burnt House Farm following its demolition in 1929. Two other areas of farmland not included in this field plan, stood immediately outside the boundary of Monkseaton: Briar Dene Farm to the North and Murton Steads Farm to the SouthWest. |
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