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Bewicke’s Restaurant, Close House Click to View Virtual Tour

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Bewicke’s Restaurant

At Close House Hotel it is our mission to make your dining experience one you will never forget.

Your experience starts with the friendly atmosphere that greets you on your arrival at Close House and onwards to Bewickes Restaurant and our private dining rooms. Bewickes Restaurant is the winner of the Best Fine Dining Restaurant within the North East Restaurant Awards 2009 in Association with the Gourmet Society.

Our dishes are made with quality ingredients from specialist suppliers across the UK and Europe. We are also proud to say that we equally embrace local suppliers who specialise in organic, free range, home produced products. Our Head Chef has a dedicated kitchen brigade behind him, and with the support of the Restaurant Manager and his team, they will meet your every need.

History of Close House

Close House was built in 1779 for the private use of the Bewicke family; however, its history dates back to the early thirteenth century.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there is evidence of a monastic house at the site, which was owned at the time by the Read Family. The property remained in the hands of the Read Family for several generations until George Read eventually sold the site to Robert Bewicke in 1626.

Robert Bewicke was a Merchant Venturer and was made Sheriff of Newcastle in 1615 and Mayor in 1628 and 1637, then began the long association of the Bewicke Family with Close House. In 1779 it was decided that a new building was required and the present Close House Mansion was built. The old monastic house was pulled down to make way for the new building. The large bay window of the ballroom marks the site of where it stood all those years ago.

The Bewicke family remained at Close House for many generations. However, wealth was dwindling and by the early part of the twentieth century the property was mortgaged. The finances of the Bewicke family never regained their original strength; so inevitably, much of the surrounding property was sold off between 1945 and 1953. This included Stevenson’s Cottage, High Close House and Heddon Quay. Finally the mansion and estate were sold at auction in 1953 and bought for the sum of £13,190 by James Rutherford and Sons.

In 1960 they approached Kings College, Newcastle upon Tyne, with the possibility of their purchasing Close House; the asking price was now £20,000! A sale price was agreed of £19,500 and the sale proceeded. Kings College at this point was part of Durham University but became the independent University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963. In 1994, Close House Mansion was refurbished at a cost of just under £1,000,000.

In August 2004, Newcastle University sold Close House Mansion and golf course, together with the estate, to local business man Graham Wylie, who has developed the now renamed Close House Hotel into the most sought after venue in the North East of England, offering a wider range of facilities then ever before. The newly named property opened for business in March 2005.