Answer July 2019

The building is one of the houses in Church Row, the row of houses at the rear of Market Street that face the Abbey and run along the edge of the cemetery. You can see the house here on the left-hand side, near St Wilfred’s gateway.

Here is a photograph of Church Row from the other end, with the building the second on the left, next to the cream-coloured house. (Thanks to Stefan for these two pictures and for this month’s test.)

The brickwork pattern in the Gable end is interesting, and is called “tumbling” according to John Chapman in his publication: A Walk Back in Time: A Guide to Hexham. (This publication is currently out of print but is to be reissued soon by the HLHS.)

You may have seen a similar gable end with tumbling on No. 34 Hallstile Bank (just up from the Almshouses), showing that the roof level has been raised at least twice. John Chapman indicates that:

… you can find tumbling decorating at least ten gable ends in Hexham.

So that’s two down and 8 to go. Have you seen any others? If you have, why not educate us all by posting details of any you’ve seen using the reply facility below.