Doxford House, Silksworth
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Description
As a youngster, I used to cycle past here when Warden Law Lane, upon which Doxford House is situated, ran all the way through the open countryside until it reached Burdon Lane. That was before they built the Doxford Park housing estate and later adding the Chapelgarth and Moorside housing developments. Interestingly, the Chapel Garth Well was located just a short distance from here near what is now the rear of Morrisons store. The decaying Doxford House is an 18th century mansion in the original settlement of Silksworth, Sunderland, and is a Grade II* listed building. When first built in the 1770's by William Johnson, it was known as Silksworth House. William died in 1792 and he bequeathed the estate to his friend Hendry Hopper. By 1831 Priscilla Marie Hopper, then heiress to the estate married William Beckwith and among other work, they were responsible for adding the ornate entrance. Above the doorway is the Beckwith coat of arms. Priscilla was a convert to Catholicism and was thought to have exchanged a number of letters with Cardinal Newman, who was himself a convert, having originally been an evangelical Oxford University academic and priest in the Church of England. The local Catholic population have Priscilla to thank for being the main benefactor of the village's St Leonard's Church. Silksworth House later became the home of the Doxford shipbuilding family and after the last Doxford resident passed away in 1968, the house and estate were left to Sunderland Corporation who decided to give the house its present name and turned the gardens into Doxford Park. Looking at the current state of Doxford House, it could easily have gone the way of many other fine buildings across the city. Thankfully, work is underway to restore the property and put it back into use as a family residence. -
Owner
DM Allan -
Source
Flickr (Flickr) -
License
What does this mean? All Rights Reserved (Seek permission to reuse)
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Further information
Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54192430@N04/24771930382/
Resource type: Image
Added by: Simon Cotterill
Last modified: 1 day, 4 hours ago
Viewed: 16 times
Picture Taken: 2016-02-05T12:46:07 -
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