Blyth, Northumberland
Cowpen House
Last Updated:
24 Jan 2023
Blyth, Northumberland
This is a
Dwelling
55.129471, -1.550199
Founded in
Current status is
Demolished
Designer (if known):
Now part of the grounds of the Dales School
NEHL - In the grounds of The Dales School off Cowpen Road, Blyth stood Cowpen House. Its 18th or an early 19th century build, and was owned by the Sidneys who held considerable land in the area including Cowpen Hall. There was a well in the back yard, which the school is now built on.
Previous to the Sidney acquisition, it was owned by the Watson family. They were the predominant family in the area before the Sidney's , appearing to have operated a shipyard at Blyth in the 19th century.
It was demolished in the 1950s, around the same time as many of the old country houses in this area. Sadly, there appears to be no photographs. It is visible on aerial imagery from 1953, but is not legible enough to be of any substance.
There was also a small well in the back garden, which has since been filled in.
Listing Description (if available)
Both Ordnance Survey maps above illustrate Cowpen House and the wider village through the latter half of the 19th century. The first was surveyed in 1859, and shows Cowpen as a modest settlement between Bebside and Blyth. Many of the dwellings will have been constructed to serve the families living in Cowpen Hall and the various country houses.
As industrial activity slowly grew on the River Blyth, so did the residential developments. A number of terraces were constructed around the house to serve the brickworks, collieries, railways and shipyards nearby. There was also an Infectious Diseases Hospital on the banks of the Blyth.
The Ordnance Survey of 1922 depicts a growing Cowpe, before residential developments bloomed south of the village towards Newsham. By this time, Cowpen House was only to have a few decades left before demolition in the 50s. It was, at this point, one of the oldest buildings in the village alongside Cowpen Hall and the White Row cottages near the Kings Arms.
An illustration of Cowpen House undated, which is the only impression we are given of how it looked. There are no remains of the property.
The same site in 2023, with the house now part of the grounds of the Dales School.
