Bensham Grove Ghost Hunts

It was near enough to continue his business on the quayside but rural and healthy for the children. And so began the life-long involvement that three successive generations of the same family had with the house called Bensham Grove. All belonging to a well-respected Quaker family, Joshua, Joseph, and Robert Spence Watson lived with their families almost continually at Bensham Grove until 1919, when Elizabeth died and bequeathed the house.

Each generation enlarged and improved the house, creating an eclectic mix of Regency and Victorian features. Elizabeth Spence Watson was a moving light on women’s rights and education, helping the poor of Gateshead in many ways. Robert and Elizabeth, at home in Bensham Grove, became host to various visitors, including artists, craftsmen, educationalists, reformers, poets, and politicians. On the death of the Spence Watsons, Bensham Grove became an Educational Settlement doing much work during the Depression in the thirties.

It is still a centre for Adult Education and a busy community centre. In later years, when the house was donated to the Bensham Community as a Centre of Learning, it became known as the Bensham Settlement. Although it has undergone some inevitable changes, the essence of the house remains. It is easy to picture the children playing in the garden or visualise the formal dinners where distinguished guests from all walks of life were present.

A Grade 2-listed building, the house still boasts many features such as stained glass windows, fireplaces, tiles and decorated ceilings. Many of these were fashionable then and had strong Arts and Crafts themes. William Morris and some Pre-Raphaelite painters were welcome visitors, and their influence can still be felt in the rooms. Bensham Grove, to this day, still follows their principles in promoting and improving life in the Bensham Community.