Sandhill ~ 1900

Down by the Quayside is a road called the Sandhill where some of Newcastle's oldest houses can still be seen. They date from the 16th - 18th centuries and were once occupied by wealthy Newcastle merchants.

Bessie Surtees lived in one of these houses and in 1772 she eloped secretly with a humble young man called John Scott. Scott went on to become Lord Eldon and the Lord Chancellor of England.

Bessie Surtees' house in Sandhill is marked by a plaque which commemorates the famous elopement.