The Bronze Age beginnings of the Summerhill in Blaydon; the Stella Hall Estate; the Cowen family – progressive business owners and politicians, and the restored water mill at Path Head.
What You’ll Hear
- 1:15: The history of the Summerhill
- 2:00: The Stella Hall Estate
- 3:10: Joseph Cowen Sr
- 4:08: Joseph Cowen Jr
- 5:01:The Path Head Water Mill
Listen to the Episode
We moved to the Summerhill when I was six, and it was very different from what I had been used to in York. There were three houses right at the bottom of the hill, and all the rest were on our side of the road. Although we were only a few minutes from Blaydon town centre, there was open grassland opposite the house and fields full of horses just up the hill, so there was a sense of isolation.
“Summerhill” to me means the name of the steep hill we lived on, but in fact it’s the mound at the top, where we played as children. That was originally known as Summerhouse Hill, and the hump opposite was Image Hill. These two hills were once part of the Stella Hall estate.
There was most likely a settlement on Summerhill thousands of years ago, built there because of its location. In 1930, some boys playing at the top of the street found a stone cist, or coffin. A reconstruction of the cist is at the Great North Museum (formerly the Hancock Museum).
The Bronze Age couple within were found with a knife and a beaker and are thought to have died between 1000 and 2000 BC. The theory is that they were married, and in all likelihood the woman was sacrificed when her husband died.
After the Bronze Age, a Norman manor house and nunnery were built on the hill, and in the Tudor times, the Tempest family, successful merchants and colliery owners, built Stella Hall. The village of Stella, just down the road, was the headquarters of the English army in at the time of the Battle of Newburn Ford in 1640. Oliver Cromwell stayed at the Hall in 1651.
Stella Hall came into the possession of the Widdrington family through marriage in 1700. At this time, the red, octagonal folly, which still stands today, was installed as a summerhouse on the hill, hence the name.
Image Hill was the home of two statues, one of Apollo, Greek god of the sun, and the playwright Aesculapius.
The Cowens
Stella Hall then became the property of brick and mine magnate Joseph Cowen, who was also an MP. His son, also Joseph, followed in his father’s footsteps, and between them they raised the family from their working-class origins to important and powerful business owners.
The Hall was modified twice, first by the architect James Paine, and again by John Dobson. It remained in the family until the death of Jane Cowen, daughter of Joseph Jr, and was sadly demolished in the 1950s.
Joseph Cowen Sr’s family were originally from Lindisfarne before moving to Winlaton, which is a couple of miles away. Joseph himself was born just up the road in Greenside, in 1800, and served as an apprentice chainmaker at Crowley’s ironmongery factory, where his father worked.
As a young man, he became interested in the welfare of his fellow workers, concerned about equality and workers’ rights. He was no doubt inspired by his employer, Ambrose Crowley, who established a fund for employees who could no longer work, provided free schooling for local children, and paid for a doctor for staff and families.
He was a member of ‘Crowley’s Crew’, a group of workers who fought for their rights. He attended reformation meetings in Newcastle, and became first secretary and then president of the Blacksmith’s Friendly Society. He was made Mayor of Newcastle in 1853 and later represented the city in parliament, becoming a Liberal MP in 1865.
Cowen and his brother-in-law went into business in 1828, where they manufactured fire bricks. I remember finding these bricks around the Burn (a small stream), near where they were made, when I was a child, with the Cowen stamp still clear to see.
Joseph Cowen Jr was educated at Edinburgh University, where one of his teachers was Scottish preacher Dr. John Richie. A radical himself, Richie no doubt encouraged Cowen Jr’s interest in the revolutionary political movements sweeping through Europe in the middle of the 19th century.
He played an active part in the family business, and, like his father before him, spoke at workers’ meetings and became an MP later in life, winning his father’s seat in 1874. He was short and stocky, and, once he sat in parliament, he was known as “The Blaydon Brick.”
Throughout his life, Joseph Jr worked tirelessly for the causes that he was passionate about, even when it put him in opposition to his own party. In 1859 he bought the Newcastle Chronicle, which he used to further publicise those causes, including encouraging the opening of a College of Science in Newcastle. He also co-founded the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, which opened in 1867. Both this and the newspaper are still flourishing today.
Of course, while there’s a lot of interesting history around the Summerhill, once you’ve seen the summerhouse, there’s not much else to look at. So I suggest you walk a few minutes further along the road, and visit the Pathhead Water Mill.
When we were children, the entire place was overgrown and the falling-down buildings were dangerous (not that that stopped us going in). Since we moved away in 1997, though, it’s all been renovated and the water mill is now fully operational.
It was a corn mill from 1730 until 1828, and was owned first by the Townley family before the Cowens bought it. Today, there’s a charming little walk through the fields, a picnic spot and a café/refreshment stand. They have events throughout the year, including craft fairs, folk festivals and vintage tractor rallies.
This episode was inspired by a blog post I wrote for my Time Pieces History Project. In this episode, I also mention episode 10 from season one – Oliver Cromwell. You can find out more about the Summerhill and Stella here.
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