Some celebrated 'outside' architects have worked in the North East - one thinks of Hawksmoor in Berwick, Lutyens at Whalton and Holy Island, Paine at Gibside, Philip Webb at Greatham, Washington and Middlesbrough. James Gibbs worked at Kirkleatham; A.W. Pugin at Ushaw and Newcastle, Ralph Erskine in Byker, and of course Vanbrugh (q.v.) at Seaton Delaval and Lumley Castle. E.S. Prior produced the Arts and Crafts gem at Roker. (v. MORRIS AND CO). Wyatt's vandalism in the name of elegance at Durham cathedral is also hard to forget. The fine buildings of Newcastle, however, and the bulk of those elsewhere in the region were designed by local architects or those with strong links to the region. It is our good fortune that these man, some dealt with elsewhere in this compilation, were both local and gifted.

Celia Fiennes considered that Newcastle in c 1700, 'most resembled London of any place in England'. This shows that a certain metropolitan style and spaciousness was evident in Newcastle even before the elegant structures that came later and are more familiar to us today. Robert Trollope (d. 1686), a mason from York, worked on the Guildhall on the Newcastle Quayside (1650-55), though it was later remodelled by John Dobson (q.v). Trollope's attractive provincial baroque style was very influential in Northumberland, where a number of houses are attributed to him. At Capheaton, in particular, Trollope's engaging independence from the Christopher Wren style can be seen. The poet Algernon Swinburne spent many summer holidays at Capheaton, his grandfather's house, and describes it as 'Ensdon' in his novel Lesbia Brandon. Trollope also made the font for St Hilda's in South Shields and is said to have built the original Green family mausoleum at St Mary's Gateshead.
His epitaph at Gateshead reads:

Here lies Robert Trollop
who made yon stones roll up
when death took his soul up
His body filled this hole up.

William Newton, as well as working at Capheaton, built the delightful St Anne's church (1768) in City Road, Newcastle, and his Assembly Rooms (1774-76) in Fenkle Street are comparable with Bath (the Newcastle citizenry certainly thought so) and more spacious than the famous rooms at York. The fine interior has recently been restored to its original pastel colours. As Eneas Mackenzie (q.v.) wrote: 'This monument of the taste and liberality of the gentry of this town and its vicinity, is remarkable for elegance of design and execution of workmanship.'

David Stephenson (1756-1818) built the old Theatre Royal, seating 1500, at what is now the south end of Grey Street. The evocatively-named Drury Lane survives on this corner. Stephenson's finest achievement, however, was built between 1786-96. This is All Saints, Newcastle, one of this country's rare elliptical churches. John Betjeman thought highly of it, and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner considered that the problem of combining tower and church front was solved much more satisfactorily here than at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. (The rebuilding of Newcastle in the early 19th century is dealt with under RICHARD GRAINGER).

The buildings at Belsay (not to mention the Quarry garden) are of national importance. The beautiful honey-coloured 14th century castle, the house of 1614 and Charles Monck's Belsay Hall are of the highest interest. Sir Charles Monck began building his magnificent Grecian mansion and associated grounds and gardens in 1807, prompted by the classical buildings he had seen on his honeymoon in Berlin and Athens. Belsay Hall, however, is very different from all other Greek Doric houses in Britain. it is a block exactly one hundred feet square, raised on a podium like a Greek temple. The exterior has a 'pure and noble simplicity' and the colonnaded hall inside is as severe and unique as the exterior. The house is again of honey-coloured sandstone and is dressed with the most remarkable precision. How the masons achieved this skill is not known, but John Dobson was to claim later that 'Monck introduced a style of masonry previously unknown' and that subsequent to Belsay, Northumbrian masons were renowned throughout the country. In 1812, Monck also designed the beautifully ashlared Lindens Hall, north of Longhorsley, for Charles William Bigge.

A curiosity is that the gatehouse at Witton Castle, Witton-le-Wear is by Jools Holland, the musician and amateur architect.

[v. also: BONOMI; DOBSON; ERSKINE; GRAINGER; PEARSON; SALVIN; VANBRUGH]