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Jesmond Towers

Built in various stages through the nineteenth century, Jesmond Towers is a large Grade II listed gothic-looking building. It was bought by Shipbuilder Charles Mitchell in 1869. Charles and his wife Anne, who he married in 1854, made the house their home. The lounge was home to many great paintings which were collected by their son who was great art enthusiast.

In 1890 Anne's sister, Emily, who was in a state of depression following the death of her husband, threw herself from the battlements of Jesmond Towers and is said to haunt the school to this very day: she is referred to as the Pink Lady.

Following Anne Mitchell's death in 1899, Jesmond Towers was inherited by her son Charles William Mitchell until his death in 1903( see details of occupants in 1901 Census). Following his death the Mitchell family home soon became Pallinburn, formerley the Askew family residence near Ford,Northumberland and Jesmond Towers was sold to become La Sagesse School in 1912.

In March 2008 the school announced that it would close on March 2009.

The school had continued to rent the building and the surrounding land from the Daughters of Wisdom who had trebled the rent. The school had faced increasing competition from other local public schools (e.g. the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, becoming fully co-educational) meant the school only had approximately two hundred pupils when it closed.

Shepherd Offshore acquired the Jesmond Towers Estate in March 2009, following the closure and announced plans to build luxury houses on the site which upset residents who objected to the plans for the site.

In 2009 the BBC used the building as the new set for the Dumping Ground in the children's television series, Tracy Beaker Returns.

Description courtesy of Wikipedia.





January 2012
























A video made for the Jesmond Local website on the development issue for the site.





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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous21 April 2012 at 15:54

    Great idea! Would love to live there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Newcastle Photos23 April 2012 at 10:29

    Aye, me too but I guess living there would be beyond my means.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John Swan26 January 2021 at 13:51

    There seems to be some mystery regarding Jesmond Towers School. I attended this school cica. 1946 - 1949 and distinctly remember having to re-locate to a premesis in The Grove Gosforth and be re- named Newlands School. This was because La Sagesse,which was situated in the building adjacent to Jesmond Towers, had bought the property and it was to become part of La Sagesse.I have the original prospectus my parents received from the school describing it as Preparatory for Public Schools and the Royal Navy. Fees for boarders were £35 ( Guineans ) per term and day boys £ 10 ( Guineans ) per term. No remission of fees for absence. Adequate Air Raid Shelters provided! As an additional story, Charles Mitchell was married to my Great Aunt Anne Swan, whose sister unfortunately committed suicide at the Towers. As a schoolboy there we were always regailed with stories of a ghost in such a building with its many passages and cellars. My wife attended La Sagesse about the same time, unknown to me of course. A photo in a recent Newcastle Journal supplement (Memory Lane) shows the front of the school in 1931 with pupils waiting in line, however the pupils entering the doorway are girls. When I was there it was a boys preparatory school and I wonder when the situation changed.

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