Grade II-listed Worswick Chambers on the corner of Newcastle's Worswick Street and Pilgrim Street - and its 25 (currently hidden) carved stone heads

Anyone who is familiar with Newcastle city centre can't fail have to have noticed the work that's taking place in Pilgrim Street and the wider area.

The place is undergoing a major transformation which will, says Newcastle City Council, "provide a huge economic boost, securing a vibrant future for our city centre for generations to come”. The unpopular eyesore, Commercial Union House, has recently been torn down, paving the way for a new £155m HMRC office complex to be built.

Demolition work has also seen the removal of the Stack shipping container leisure village and the former Dex car park. Bamburgh House in Market Street will also be bulldozed and so too will the interior of the listed Carliol House, though its Art Deco facade will be incorporated into the new development.

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Slightly further south, around Worswick Street, the former bus station, taxi office, NCP garage and Wilders bar have all been making way for the massive regeneration.

One building in that area of the city that will remain standing but will be refurbished is the Grade II-listed Worswick Chambers on the corner of Worswick Street and Pilgrim Street. It's a building that holds a surprise - or, in fact, 25 surprises.

Newcastle local historian and photographer Steve Ellwood, who has been kindly sharing some of his work with ChronicleLive, reveals a striking feature of the building that many will be unaware of.

He says: "There are 25 sculptured heads on Worswick Chambers and House. It's a real Newcastle curiosity and one not a lot of folk might know about. The building was finally revealed in February 2022 after being obscured by scaffolding and netting from 2000 - so 22 years. However, it was only visible for a short while and now the scaffolding is back as the work continues."

Below are a selection of the 25 heads photographed by Steve. It's a smart old building, but one many will have walked by without giving it a second glance.

Steve points out: "Worswick House and Chambers were built in two phases, 1891 and 1898, to a design by Newcastle Architect W Lister Newcombe for Alderman George Grieg Archibold. Minor alterations were made to the building in 1900.

"The faces were sculptured by John Rogers, from Heaton, who worked for the firm of Robert Beall, stonemasons of Castle Yard near the High Level Bridge. He was supposed to base the sculptures on famous people, but instead used his family photograph album as models for the heads. Similar designs can also be seen on a building at the corner of Bigg Market and Grainger Street."

Carved stone heads on buildings became a fashionable architectural trend during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, before falling out of at the onset of the Great War.

Earlier this year, with the ongoing redevelopment of the wider area, the restricted view at Worswick House was removed for a while, allowing those 'in the know' to see and photograph the rarely-seen carved heads - but the scaffolding and covering has since returned.

We look forward to wandering down to Worswick Street to see the 25 heads on a future date. In the meantime, here are a selection of photographs of the stone carvings taken by Steve Ellwood. We'll feature the others at a later date.

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Worswick Chambers, on the corner of Worswick Street and Pilgrim Street, Newcastle

An entrance at Worswick Chambers, on the corner of Worswick Street and Pilgrim Street, Newcastle

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

One of 25 stone heads carved on to Worswick Chambers

Worswick Chambers, on the corner of Worswick Street and Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, and its 25 stone heads