Video tour of Sunderland's landmark Langham Tower as it goes up for sale
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With its namesake tower standing guard over Ashbrooke and its distinctive mock Tudor mansion features, Langham Tower has been a landmark of Sunderland's skyline since the late nineteenth century.
Built in 1889, it was once a very handsome home indeed for William Adamson, the son of a shipbuilding magnate who'd commissioned its build.
It's believed the private home was inspired by Cragside in Northumberland and it's full of period charm, including incredibly-detailed coving, grand fireplaces, Tudor chimneys, gabled turret, parquet flooring and panelled walls that hark back to the Arts and Craft period.
After William's death, the building changed hands several times and was rented by the Vaux family at one point, before becoming home to Sunderland Teacher Training College in 1922 with 146 students. It would go on to be used for educational purposes for almost 100 years.
In 1975 the College of Education was merged with Sunderland Polytechnic and for three years Langham remained the centre of the Faculty of Education, until further changes in 1979 saw it adapted for use as an administrative centre.
As the polytechnic became a University, it would be used by University of Sunderland until 2006 when it was bought by Sunderland High School who operated at Langham Tower until 2016 when the public school closed.
After being used more recently as a bar and events venue, it's now on the market with Bradley Hall with an asking price of £950,000 - a unique opportunity to own a piece of Sunderland history.
Our story about the sale brought back plenty of memories with readers.
Commenting on the Echo Facebook, Maurice Alderson said: "I did my teacher training here. Beautiful building and lovely memories."
Iain Jackson said: "My son was a pupil here when part of Sunderland High School. Fantastic building with amazing architecture. The Headmistress’s room in particular was something else."
Linda Brown said: "My beautiful College of Education. A fabulous place of learning with such an atmosphere. Surely it can be turned into some form of museum/community hub/tourist hub."
Planning consent was previously granted for hotel use at Langham Tower, including, a restaurant and bar to the ground floor, 7 en-suite guest rooms on the first floor with the manager's accommodation sited on the second floor. *Langham Tower is on the market with Bradley Hall with an asking price of £950,000. To arrange a viewing contact their Sunderland office on Tel: 0191 563 4242.