This post celebrates more of the rich heritage of Gosforth as we take a look at the story of Coxlodge Hall.
The Durham County Advertiser of 7 February 1818 carried the following notice:
Death of Job Bulman
At his mansion, at Coxlodge, near Newcastle, on Sunday last, aged 74 years, Job Bulman Esq., one of the partners of the bank of Messrs. Lambton & Co. of Newcastle, a gentleman highly respected.
A month later on 7 March 1818 the same newspaper carried the following advertisement offering the lease of Coxlodge Hall, home of the late Job Bulman, now in the ownership of his son, Job James.
TO BE LET
Unfurnished for a term of years
All the capital MANSION HOUSE of Coxlodge with the gardens, orchard etc. The house consists of an excellent dining room, drawing room, library, two sitting rooms, nine spacious bed rooms, three of them with good dressing rooms, and four servants’ rooms, two kitchens, laundry, wash house, servants’ hall. Housekeeper’s room and butler’s pantry.
The out offices are very commodious: two double coach houses, stabling for ten horses, excellent granaries and hay lofts, brew house, cow byer, poultry house, barn and hind’s house; with other convenient offices. The gardens are very productive, with a hot house to one of them.
The premises are in excellent repair and condition; pleasantly situated within two miles of Newcastle upon Tyne, at a short distance from the turnpike road leading to Morpeth, and forming a desirable residence for a gentleman’s family.
The tenant accommodated with from 20 to 50 acres of land.
The premises will be shewn on enquiry at the house; and for further particulars apply to Job Bulman, Esq, at Coxlodge; or of Mr John Grace, of Gosforth, near Newcastle upon Tyne. 4 March 1818.
Coxlodge Hall Gosforth
Job Bulman was born in Gateshead around 1744 and is believed to have made his fortune in India. On returning to England he purchased land in Gosforth and built Coxlodge Hall. After acquiring the Coxlodge estate he proceeded to sell of parts of it. These sales resulted in the development of Bulman Village, the area around what is now Gosforth High Street. In 1832 the property was sold to John Anderson, a banker, who retained it until 1859 when it was sold to Thomas Hedley, the soapmaker, whose business eventually became part of Proctor and Gamble. The Hall suffered a fire in 1877 but was rebuilt two years later by Andrew Leslie, a shipbuilder. The next owner was John Harper Graham, a wine merchant who acquired it in 1894.
Rowland Hodge Buys Coxlodge Hall
In the first decade of the 20th century the Hall and estate were purchased by Rowland Hodge, owner of the Northumberland Shipbuilding Company. In April 1918 Rowland and his wife Mabel were found guilty of an offence under the Food Hoarding Order of 1917.
The couple were charged and found guilty of hoarding 1148lb flour, 733ld sugar, 148lb bacon & ham, 29lb sago, 19lb split peas, 1 tin of preserved peas, 32lb lentils, 81lb rice, 25 tins of salmon, 4 tins of lobster, 3 tins crab, 10 jars ox tongue, 19 tins salmon, 85lb jam and marmalade, 61 tins of preserved fruit, 17 jars of calves’ foot jelly, 20 tins of syrup, 2 jars of pressed beef, 8 tins of Moir’s rations, 20 tins of condensed milk, 5 tins of soup and 27lb of dried fruit. In their defence the couple claimed that they had a household of sixteen to feed. This appears to have had little influence. The case resulted in fines of £600 with £100 costs.
Heavy Fines in Gosforth Food Hoarding Case
The case does not appear to have dented Rowland Hodge’s influence. In 1921 he was appointed a baronet under the infamous Llloyd George coalition government that granted honours in return for the financial benefit to the Prime Minister. Ironically the award was for the services his company had provided during World War One.
More Recent History of the Hall
After Hodge sold the property it became a co-educational private school, Smart’s College.
The Hall was eventually demolished in 1939 with stables, currently being converted to luxury accommodation at The Coach House Gosforth, and the lodge, at the end of The Drive surviving today.
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My 3x great grandmother was listed as living at Coxlodge hall on her marriage certificate in 1896. Agnes Ann Beckwith Purvis Scott. She was born Agnes Purvis in 1868 to Isabella Purvis ( unmarried) and on her marriage she took on her real fathers name ( John Beckwith recorded as gentleman and deceased on her marriage certificate) and also her adoptive fathers name ( robert Scott). I can’t find any documentation for her adoptive father Robert Scott ever owning the hall and think he may have rented it. Would there be any documents relating to tenants I wonder.
my great grandmother lived at coxlodge hall adopted by the scott fanily need information about them
Hello Julie, it is quite possible that Hall was tenanted. You might try looking at census records and directories, they could help.
Hi Billie, this sounds like a very special photograph. Is it part of your family history?
i have a unique and personal close up of coxlodge hall on the day of a rowland hodge garden party… dated june 1913, its a lovely photo of the hall and all his staff.