Hudleston Arms Hotel (The Bay Hotel)

HER Number:
7081

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
Hudleston Arms Hotel (The Bay Hotel)

Place:
Cullercoats

Map Sheet:
NZ37SE

Class:
Commercial

Site Type: Broad:
Eating and Drinking Establishment

Site Type: Specific:
Public House

General Period:
POST MEDIEVAL

Specific Period:
Victorian 1837 to 1901

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
The present building occupies the site of an earlier inn "The Ship Inn", described by W.W. Tomlinson as a large building on the edge of the "ancient settlement" on what was known as the "Old Square". The Ship Inn and Old Square are shown on Ordnance Survey first edition of 1850. Following the demolition of the Ship Inn, a new hotel known as the Huddleston Arms, named after a prominent local family, was built. The hotel is shown on the Ordnance Survey second edition of 1890. The Huddleston Arms was the temporary residence and studio of American watercolour artist Winslow Homer, during the early part of his stay in Cullercoats in 1881 and 1882. It has been suggested that he came to Cullercoats after meeting a member of the family that ran the hotel on the the ocean crossing aboard the Cunard steamer, the Parthia. It is thought that his rooms were on the ground floor at the west end - his painting "The Perils of the Sea" is a view looking out across Front Street to the Fishermens' Watch House. This viewpoint is used for a further five works, including "The Gale" which famously sold for the then huge amount of 30,000$ in 1916, six years after Homer's death. He soon moved his studio to No. 12 Bank Top (HER 7082) and rented a room in 44b Front Street (HER 7083).

Easting:
436358

Northing:
571400

Grid Reference:
NZ436358571400

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Archaeological Services University of Durham, 2004, The Bay Hotel, Cullercoats - archaeological desk-top assessment and building recording; Tony Harrison, Winslow Homer in Cullercoats (typescript); History of Northumberland, Victoria County Histories Vol VIII pp 280-4; W.W. Tomlinson, 1893, Historical Notes on Cullercoats, Whitley and Monkseaton; Illustrated Catalogue of Winslow Homer's English Works; R. Wright, 2002, The People's History - Cullercoats; Tony Knipe, 1988, Winslow Homer: All the Cullercoats Pictures