Benwell

Benwell is an area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The place-name 'Benwell' is first attested in the Historia de Sancto Cuthberto circa 1050 AD, where it appears as Bynnewalle, from the Old English bionnan walle, meaning "inside the wall". This refers to Benwell's position relative to Hadrian's Wall (adjoining which was the Roman fort of Condercum, hence the modern Condercum Road nearby). The fort was covered over by subsequent development in the area, but the remains of a Roman temple can still be seen in the vicinity. Benwell is situated between Hadrian's Wall to the north and the River Tyne to the south, and in medieval times it was part of the Barony of Bolbec. By the 13th century the medieval manor of Benwell had been subdivided, originally into two, but then one of the halves was further subdivided. So, although people usually refer to the three sections of Benwell Manor as ‘thirds’, this gives a misleading impression, because one of the ‘thirds’ was larger and wealthier than the other two. This third belonged to the Scot family, who were wealthy merchants from Newcastle and by 1296 they were the principal taxpayers in Benwell. The Scot family later went on to create a deer park in 1367, which later became Scotswood.