During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there is evidence of a monastic house at the site, which was owned at the time by the Turpin family and then later by the Read Family. The property remai
ned 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 who was made Sheriff of Newcastle in 1615 and Mayor in 1628 and 1637. Thus 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 for Calverley and Mary Bewicke. It is a Georgian style house with a balanced and
