The Mitre is a building situated in the
Benwell area in the west end of
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, England. It is a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
A
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
known as Benwell Tower was built in 1221. It became home to a branch of the
Shafto family of
Bavington Hall
Bavington Hall is a 17th-century privately owned country house at Little Bavington in Northumberland. It is a Grade II* listed building.
A tower house (Little Bavington Tower) was recorded on the site in 1415, but this was replaced in the late 1 ...
until the 1770s, when it was sold by Robert Shafto (the son of
Bobby Shafto, immortalised in the song of the same name).
In 1831, the present building (originally known as Benwell Towers) designed by the
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
architect
John Dobson replaced the old house
[ and has since provided a number of different functions. It became the residence of the Bishop of Newcastle in the 1880s (when Newcastle upon Tyne became a separate see from the diocese of Durham). During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
it became a fire station, and then became a training centre for the National Coal Board
The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...
in 1947.
By the 1970s the building had become The Mitre pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, before achieving national fame in 1989 as the Byker Grove youth club in the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. The final episode of ''Byker Grove'' was filmed in August 2006. Benwell Towers was put up for sale by the owners in 2007.
In June 2009 a local newspaper reported problems with
on the site, that was still said to be for sale.
In September 2010 local newspaper ''The Evening Chronicle'' reported that the building had been purchased by an individual on behalf of a community organisation. It will be used for community-based purposes.
In December 2012 planning permission was granted for the creation of an Islamic Faith school, the Bahr Academy. The development was also to include a community building, coffee shop and events space open at weekends. The building was vandalised in July 2016, shortly before the school's opening.