Mitford, Northumberland
Wansbeck Cottage, Mitford
Last Updated:
17 Oct 2024
Mitford, Northumberland
This is a
School, Reading Room, Post Office, Dwelling
55.167333, -1.728764
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
Now a private dwelling
This is the absolutely gorgeous Wansbeck Cottage, a tiny little residence by the river on the road into Mitford from Morpeth.
Only a few decades of its life has it been a dwelling though. This place was actually built as a village school. On the 1850s it’s illustrated as a small schoolhouse with a fairly substantial garden facing the village. It was certainly here by 1842, but could have been here as early as the 1820s. If it was, it will certainly have been from 1828 as it’s a fair assumption that it was built by the Mitford family who lived in the hall.
The hall was built by John Dobson, so could we suggest this school was too? I've tried to find any reference to a designer for this place, but found nothing. It doesn’t follow the same blueprint as Mitford Hall and, say, it’s gatehouse there, so it might be a little later. However I don’t think it rules out Dobson.
A larger and more modern school was later built at Stank Hill on the west side of the village, making this one redundant. Instead it was turned into a reading room.
Reading rooms were a common phenomenon in the latter half of the 19th century. They were opened as a temperate alternative to pubs, where village folk could nest for adult learning classes and access periodicals and texts. They split opinion, with some feeling lectured by the local landowners or the parish who tended to open them. It did however provide resources which were otherwise unobtainable.
It became a post office by the 1910s and remained so for much of the 20th century. Upon the opening of that in the village, this building was converted into a private dwelling. It is now known as Wansbeck Cottage.
Listing Description (if available)
The Ordnance Survey maps shown illustrate Mitford from the mid to the late 19th century. The school can be seen next to the fork in the river as a school then reading room.
You'll notice only marginal changes between the two, and even now only slight development has taken place. The school on stank hill was constructed in the 1880s or 90s, replacing the one we are discussing. This is a polite construction and can still be seen on the hilltop. Also, there is small development next to Stable Green at old Mitford, with the addition of what appears to be three dwellings leading diagonally south east to north west.
It's worthy to note the lost parts of the landscape too. Part of the Manor House was dismantled, and now the private footbridge linking Mitford Hall and Old Mitford is gone, despite the worn path being extant. There was also a suspension bridge on the west side of the estate.
As they are now, the moat and quarry continue to be prevalent scars on the landscape around the old castle. The aforementioned school opposite Mill Farm is by this time a post office. Apart from this though there is still minimal development in the area.
Wansbeck Cottage in August 2024
Wansbeck Cottage during its days as the local post office, later moved to the centre of the village next to the smithy. Unknown original source.
