Guisborough, Sunnyfield House, Westgate c.1960

Photo ref: G66054

More about this scene

Number 36 Westgate, known since the mid 19th century as Sunnyfield House, was built in around 1780 as the residence of John Harrison, agent to the Chaloner estate. The Sunnyfield Estate originally comprised a large area of 'pleasure grounds and grass land' to the north of Westgate. After being sold at auction in 1876, the estate was broken up, and most of the land was developed with private housing. The house (now a Town Council Community Centre), the stable block (now the Town Museum) and the immediate gardens eventually became the home in 1902 of Dr William Stainthorpe, who extended the house in 1919 to provide a private nursing home – the birthplace of many Gisborians from the 1920s through to the early 1950s. The original carriage driveway of the house preceded the 'new' Westgate Road, shown in the foreground here, which was laid out to connect the Victorian streets of Reid Terrace, Gill Street and Hedley Street to the town centre. The original screen or fence in front of Sunnyfield House has been a familiar part of Westgate for over two centuries. Peeping out to the right of the house is the façade of the Wesleyan Methodist chapel, which was built in 1811, remodelled in 1886 and demolished in 1963. The site of the chapel now serves as a car park; pedestrian access to it is still via an opening between numbers 28 and 30 Westgate, the original route to the chapel.