Fenham was part of the manor of
Elswick in the
Barony of
Bolam until the lands were passed into the ownership of the
Knights Templar in 1185. Following the suppression of the Templars in 1307 the manor of Fenham was transferred to the
Knights Hospitaller in 1313. In the intervening years it is recorded that coal mines on the site were leased to the town's
Corporation. Fenham was formerly a
township in the parish of
Newcastle-St. Andrew, in 1866 Fenham became a separate
civil parish, on 1 April 1914 the parish was abolished to form Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1911 the parish had a population of 1049. It is now in the
unparished area of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Fenham Hall Fenham Hall has its origins in the 14th century. Surrendered by the Hospitallers to
the Crown at the
Reformation, it was granted initially to the Riddell family before being acquired (along with much of the surrounding land) by the Ords in 1695. The present building was begun by John Ord in 1744; following his death the following year it was continued by his brother
William. The Hall was expanded and rebuilt over subsequent decades, and now shows various stages of architectural development; the interior was gutted by fire in 1908. (Three years earlier the hall had been purchased as a school.) File:Fenham Hall, later St Mary's College (South façade).jpg|South front (1748 by
Daniel Garrett). The pediment displays the Ord family coat of arms. File:Fenham Hall, later St Mary's College (North façade).jpg|North front, attributed to
William Newton (late 18th or early 19th century). File:Fenham Hall, later St Mary's College (East façade).jpg|East front (c.1850, architect unknown).
St Mary's College (1907, for St Mary's College). In 1905 Fenham Hall was purchased by the
Society of the Sacred Heart to house a secondary school and a Teacher Training College: St Mary's.
Fenham Barracks Fenham Barracks was built in 1804-06 by James Johnson and John Saunders (architects at the Barrack Department of the
War Office) on an 11-acre portion of the
Town Moor leased from the Newcastle
Freemen. Some ten years earlier, the
Lord Mayor of Newcastle had written to the
Home Secretary expressing local fears of
sedition in the wake of the
French Revolution. The
barracks initially housed units of
cavalry and
artillery (capable of being deployed locally, as well as overseas during the
Napoleonic Wars). Two-storey barrack blocks accommodated the men upstairs and the horses below. In the 1870s the site was expanded to the north, with the addition of a hospital and other amenities, in the wake of the
Cardwell Reforms (which also saw Fenham designated as the
regimental depot of both the
Northumberland Fusiliers and the
Durham Light Infantry). Several of the old barracks blocks were demolished in the 1930s. There was further (almost comprehensive) demolition in the 1970s, when the northern part of the site was redeveloped by the Freemen to provide industrial units, a headquarters for the national
Blood Transfusion Service and a new
BBC Broadcasting Centre (for
BBC Radio Newcastle and
BBC Look North); proceeds of the sale help fund the maintenance of the Town Moor. Part of the site remains in military hands and it serves as headquarters for local
Army Reserve units.
Modern developments In 1895 Benwell and Fenham Urban District was created; in 1904 the area was incorporated into Newcastle upon Tyne. Fenham did not become a residential area until the 20th century. Housing was built on a large scale when tram lines were extended from Central Station via Barrack Road. Further expansion was facilitated by the development of trolley buses and bus links to Westerhope. The Fenham Estates Company undertook residential development and by 1914 both sides Of Fenham Hall Drive had been built up; building continued in Wingrove Avenue, Wingrove Road and Wingrove Gardens up to 1920. The majority of house building up to 1940 was by private builders. City corporation building occurred after 1920 when there was a sale of Blackett-Ord lands and funding became available to purchase and develop areas around Silver Lonnen. During the 1930s, a period of significant residential development and expansion, two churches opened in Fenham: the
Arts & Crafts Church of St James and St Basil (architect: E. E. Lofting) was consecrated on 6 June 1931, having been funded by
Sir James Knott in memory of his sons, James and Basil, killed in the
First World War; the
modernist Holy Cross Church (architect: Henry Hicks) was consecrated on
Holy Cross Day 1936, having been funded by local landowner John Reginald
Blackett-Ord. ==Local amenities==