The Old Vicarage and the Absent Vicars

Between 1778 and 1864 Ponteland did not have a resident vicar. There was a parish priest, but he was just a curate, paid for by the vicar to perform his duties. The vicar was generally a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. The College controlled the parish and owned much of the village.

The curates lived in an old hall attached to the Vicar’s Pele Tower, whilst the vicars were content to remain in Oxford living off the rents and tithes of their Ponteland properties.

In 1864, the newly appointed vicar, the Rev. K. Prescot was of a different character to his predecessor. He took his clerical duties seriously and moved up north to take up residence in the parish. Rev. Prescot seems to have been an energetic man. At Oxford, he had been a leading rower, setting up the Merton College team. In Ponteland he engaged an Alnwick architect to examine the church and to suggest improvements and to build a new, substantial vicarage for him and his wife to live in. The result was the beautiful house which is now incorporated into Pele House, the apartment block, just off the Main Street in Ponteland.

Today, the old vicarage can only be glimpsed from the end of a private road, but it is still clear what a fine building this is. It only has two stories but the eastern end has two large stepped gables which give the building character. When it was built it was surrounded by extensive gardens. Internally, it was said to contain many of the old fittings from the hall which had been demolished.

From 1895 to 1934, the Rev. Langton lived here with his two daughters.

In the 1950’s it was the family home of the Rev. J. W. Cheshire but by then such a large and grand house was more of a burden than a benefit. The vicars at Ponteland no longer received their income from Merton College and instead were paid a standardised stipend. Castle Ward Rural Council were looking for new headquarters and after protracted negotiations with the Church Authorities which included granting a licence for a new vicarage to be build nearby, they took over this building.

The old vicarage was then used as Castle Ward’s Council Offices until the council amalgamated with the newly formed Castle Morpeth District in 1974. The building continued to have been used by the council until 1983 when it was purchased for £135,000 by the National Farmers Union as their new regional headquarters. The N.F.U. renamed the building Agricultural House and remained here until 1994. The building was then acquired by Bellway’s who moved their North East Division Headquarters here.

Less than ten years later in 2003, the company caused consternation within the village by proposing to develop the grounds of the house with a new apartment complex. A local councilor was reported as saying “They are the type of flats you would find in Newcastle but not in Ponteland”. Eventually planning permission was given for 22 new apartments.