Doxford House is an 18th-century

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in the Silksworth area of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Formerly known as Silksworth House, it was constructed in 1775–1780 by William Johnson who on his death in 1792 bequeathed the property to his friend Hendry Hopper. In 1831 Priscilla Hopper, then heiress to the estate, married William Beckwith of Thurcroft. He was

High Sheriff of Durham This is a list of the high sheriffs of County Durham, England. In most counties the high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. In the Palatinate of Durham the officeholder was appointed by and was accountable to the Bishop of ...

in 1857. The Beckwiths moved to Shropshire in about 1890 and the house was let out. In 1902, Charles David Doxford of

William Doxford & Sons William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding and marine engineering company. History William Doxford founded the company in 1840. From 18 ...

, brother of Theodore Doxford, took out a 99-year

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

on the estate. On his death in 1935, his daughter, Aline, bought out the lease. On her death in 1968, she bequeathed the house and estate to Sunderland Corporation who gave the house its present name and turned the gardens into

Doxford Park Doxford Park (known locally as ''Doxy Park'') is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, located to the south-west of the city centre. Once part of the historical township of Silksworth in the Middle Ages, Doxford Park consisted of agrarian lan ...

. In 1989, the house became a students’ hall of residence for Sunderland University and from about 2000 to 2006 was occupied by the ''Lazarus Foundation'', a

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. The general int ...

charity. It was later converted into a private home.

References

External links

The Friends of Doxford Park
Grade II* listed buildings in Tyne and Wear Buildings and structures in the City of Sunderland Sunderland {{TyneandWear-struct-stub