Summary
Mount Oswald is a manor house in Durham, County Durham, England. The property, which is being developed for academic and residential use, is a Grade II listed building.[1]
| Mount Oswald | |
|---|---|
 Mount Oswald in 1818 | |
| Location | Durham |
| Coordinates | 54°45′37″N 1°35′10″W / 54.7602°N 1.5860°W |
| Built | 1800 |
| Architect | Phillip Wyatt |
| Architectural style(s) | Georgian |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Designated | 29 November 1973 |
| Reference no. | 1310089 |
  Location of Mount Oswald in County Durham | |
History edit
The manor house was built for John Richardby, a London merchant, in 1800.[2] It was bought by Thomas Wilkinson (1752-1825), a former mayor of Durham, in 1806 and it then passed to the Rev Percival Spearman Wilkinson (1792-1875), in 1828.[2] The Rev Percival Spearman Wilkinson commissioned Phillip Wyatt to expand the house in the Georgian style in 1830.[3][4]
Mount Oswald then passed to the Rev Percival Spearman Wilkinson's son, Percival Spearman Wilkinson JP (1820-1898), before being acquired by the North Brancepeth Colliery Company in the 1890s.[2] The house was acquired by North of England Estates (a business owned by the McKeag family) in 1934:[5] North of England Estates operated the Mount Oswald estate as the Durham City Golf Club until 1967, when the golf club moved to Littleburn, and then operated it as a commercial golf course.[6] The property was then acquired by the property developers, Banks Group, for residential development in January 2014.[3]
In August 2014 Banks Group sold part of the site to Durham University who had ambitions to use it for accommodation for 1,000 students.[7][8] The project was procured by Durham University under a private finance initiative contract in August 2018.[9] The construction works, which were undertaken by Interserve at a cost of £105 million, saw John Snow College relocating from Rushford Court, and South College, a completely new college, being created on the Mount Oswald site in September 2020.[10]
In June 2019 Durham County Council revealed plans to move the county archives from County Hall to a new history centre, which was also intended to accommodate the Durham Light Infantry Collection, in the manor house at Mount Oswald.[11] The project, which envisaged Banks Group transferring the manor house to the council for a nominal sum, was granted planning consent in September 2020.[12] In March 2020 Banks Group also applied for planning permission to convert the gatehouses into residential properties.[13]
References edit
- ^ Historic England. "Mount Oswald (City Golf Club Clubhouse), Durham (1310089)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ a b c "Exploring the countryside of Mount Oswald". Durham Times. Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ a b "New occupants at historic Mount Oswald Manor House through innovative 'property guardians' project". Banks Group. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ Page, William (1928). "'Parishes: St Oswald's - Introduction', in A History of the County of Durham". London: British History Online. pp. 144–157. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Jobs safe as £3m hotel sold". The Forester. 2 June 2011.
- ^ "About North of England Estates". Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ Justin Villamil (5 August 2014). "University to build additional 1,000 beds on Mount Oswald site". Palatinate. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ "Durham university reaches agreement with the Banks Group for sale of land at Mount Oswald". The Banks Group. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ "Interserve JV seals £105m Durham Uni DBFO deal". Construction Enquiror. 17 August 2018.
- ^ "Durham University colleges apply for 2am licences for events at new development". Sunderland Echo. 25 February 2020.
- ^ "Designs revealed for new Durham History Centre to house DLI collection". Northern Echo. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Approval for history centre at Durham's Mount Oswald Manor House". Northern Echo. 25 September 2020.
- ^ "Durham: New home to be created from historic Mount Oswald gate houses". Northern Echo. 4 March 2020.