Two tall 17th-century merchant houses on Newcastle's Quayside, from whose window Bessie Surtees eloped with a future Lord Chancellor in 1772
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
On Newcastle’s Quayside, two merchant houses lean together, one behind a timber-framed front lined with jettied upper storeys, each floor projecting further out over the street than the one below. Merchants built them in the mid-17th century as homes and offices close to the wharves that built Newcastle’s wealth on the Tyne. A 1930 restoration brought in older features rescued from other buildings around the city, so parts of what you see today were not always here.
The house’s best-known moment came in 1772, when Bessie Surtees climbed from an upstairs window to elope with John Scott, who went on to become Lord Chancellor of England.
English Heritage opens the house for guided tours only, free, but they must be booked ahead. The Hadrian’s Wall Path runs along the Quayside here, and Tyne Bridge and St Nicholas’ Cathedral are both a short walk away, with Manors station the nearest station.
