Newcastle Upon Tyne Council Vacancies

Newcastle Upon Tyne Council Vacancies

Newcastle Upon Tyne Council Vacancies

This was the period that spanned Britain’s transition from a rural to an industrial economy, and the work of these contemporaries reflected both. Bewick recorded, in exquisite detail, the countryside, its animals and birds. Stephenson created the machines that would bring irrevocable changes to that countryside.

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828)

Thomas Bewick was born at Cherryburn, a small farm overlooking the valley of the River Tyne, near Prudhoe. He showed an early aptitude for art, and was apprenticed, in 1767, to Ralph Beilby, in Newcastle, becoming a partner ten years later. During this time, he developed his skills, particularly as a wood engraver, and illustrated many books with his depictions of rural life.

He is best known for his works on natural history: A General History of Quadrupeds (1790), and the two-volume History of British Birds (1797 and 1804). He befriended the American artist, John James Audubon, who named a wren after him. He also gave his name to the Bewick swan.

Bewick returned frequently to Cherryburn, which was inherited by his brother, William. Indeed, the home remained with the family for more than a century after Thomas’s death. It was restored using drawings made by Thomas’s son, Robert, and acquired by the National Trust in 1990.

Bewick’s Birthplace at Cherryburn House

One enters the house through the Exhibition Room, which has many portraits of Bewick, as well as examples of his books, together with stuffed animals and birds, on loan from the Great North Museum, formerly Newcastle’s Hancock Museum. The displays also include magazine and newspaper illustrations, plate designs and bottle labels, all using Bewick’s woodcuts.

In the adjacent Press Room, are printing presses and carving tools of the kinds Bewick used. Each Sunday, from March to October, demonstrations of the art and craft are given by an experienced printer.

The small cottage in which Bewick was born stands across the farmyard to the rear. Two small rooms are open, a comfortable living room, with open fire, table, dresser and grandfather clock, and a smaller bedroom. To the side of this, and sloping steeply down toward the Tyne, is The Paddock, which is grazed by sheep and donkeys. A circular walk of around a quarter-mile follows the perimeter of this.