Stella Hall, park

The hall was built soon after 1600 (HER 1694). The estate was bought by Joseph Cowen in 1850. His son Joseph was a prominent radical politician. He was friendly with many leading European figures of the time and in 1854 entertained Garibaldi when he visited Tyneside. Stella Hall was gifted to the University of Durham in 1946, demolished in 1953 and replaced by housing. The Hall was set in a small country estate, and remnants of the landscape can be traced today. A lodge, gardener's house, bath house, impressive estate wall and tree planting survive. Most impressive of all is the 18th century brick summerhouse (HER 1699) by which a statue of Garibaldi once stood. LOCAL LIST