Cliff House Cullercoats

One of the oldest surving buildings in Cullercoats is Cliff House. On 28 July 1768 a piece of land was conveyed to Thomas Armstrong and on this ground he is believed to have built Cliff House. Armstrong was a Customs Officer but was not above indulging in a little smuggling himself. The house is not in its original conditon and has been altered and extended over the years.

Cullercoats Postcard

Although this photograph is postmarked in 1908, the absence of a tower on the Cullercoats lifeboathouse suggests that the photograph was taken in 1896 or earlier.

To the right is the little valley formed by Marden Burn, which was the boundary with the Township of Whitley. A flight of steps runs up from the end of the culverted stream. Old Ordnance Survey sheets are quite vague as to names in the village - perhaps the paler cottage at the top is that known as Back Row by the Sea in electoral rolls of the 1890s.

The five cottages leading south along the cliff edge were later 18 - 22 Back Row. About the time of the photograph they were inhabited by John and Margaret Wilson; Peter and Isabella Nicholson; John and Isabella Jefferson; James and Mary Storey; and George Scott, amongst others. Most of the heads of household were fishermen, although the Wilson boys worked in shipyards.