Benton Park View - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Overview

Benton Park View located in Longbenton

Longbenton

Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1950s and 1960s. It is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro stations Longbenton Metro station and Four Lane Ends Metro Station...

, a suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, is a multi-agency site of the UK Government. The complex is one of the largest civilian government complexes in Europe. The site is owned by Newcastle Estates Partenership and the principal tenants are Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pension (DWP). The site consists a large group of office blocks within a secure perimeter.

The official name of the site is "Benton Park View", but it is widely referred to simply as "Longbenton" or, especially on Tyneside

Tyneside

Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...

, as "The Ministry"’, after its original purpose as the administrative centre for the Ministry of Pensions (later the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance

The Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance or MPNI was a British government ministry responsible for the administration and delivery of welfare benefits...

).

The site is well served by public transport. The nearest stop on the Tyne and Wear Metro

Tyne and Wear Metro

The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...

system is Longbenton

Longbenton Metro station

Longbenton Metro station is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro network. It is set amongst the residential streets of the Longbenton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, although is probably more utilised due to its proximity to St Mary's RC Comprehensive School and the HMRC office complex, which the...

and the larger public transport interchange station at Four Lane Ends is located a short distance away. Both stations are served by trains on the Yellow Line service and the site is served by a number of special bus services to bring workers from outlying areas.

Function

The principal function of the site was originally to administer the UK’s system of retirement and widows’ pensions, along with the system of National Insurance that raises contributions from both employers and employees for the purpose of financing those (and other) benefits of the British social welfare system. These functions have been handled in the past by the Department of Health and Social Security

Department of Health and Social Security

The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...

(DHSS), the Department of Social Security

Department of Social Security

The Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...

(DSS) and the Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions

The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...

(DWP) before transfer of the contributions aspect to HMRC.

This remains the main function of the site today, however as the government continues to rationalise its estate other government department have moved in and will continue to move to the site. The DWP and its various agencies, including The Pension, Disability and Carers Service

The Pension, Disability and Carers Service

The Pension, Disability and Carers Service is an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions which was created in April 2008.The PDCS brings together two former separate executive agencies, The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service. These two agencies have kept their...

, Jobcentreplus and The Health and Safety Executive

Health and Safety Executive

The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...

, continues to have staff based at the site.

Current Site

Early in the twenty-first century the site underwent a complete physical overhaul. All of the original buildings were demolished, replaced by a series of sixteen contemporary structures, built in grey metal and glass. These buildings include a reception building, a nursery, and two self-service restaurants, and a service buiding all of which are single-storey (although one of the restaurants has a basement that contains a sports and fitness centre), as well as eleven multi-storey office blocks.

The new site is, compared to the old site, remarkable for its extensive car parking areas, landscaping, and uncluttered appearance. The new buildings are all air-conditioned and provide kitchen facilities, drinks, snacks, and newspaper outlets, and seating areas for both formal and informal meetings. Each of the buildings has a number, and also a name that is associated with a Northumbria

Northumbria

Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...

n location (e.g., Tynemouth

Tynemouth

Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...

House, Amble

Amble

Amble is a town, civil parish and seaport on the North Sea coast, in Northumberland, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Coquet, and the nearby Coquet Island is clearly visible from its beaches and harbour. The civil parish, which has town status, is called Amble by the Sea, and has a...

Inn, and Chillingham

Chillingham, Northumberland

Chillingham is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is situated approximately to the east of Wooler, south of Chatton.Chillingham is famous for its castle , which is said to be haunted, and the Chillingham Cattle , a wild herd of roughly 50 individuals that are kept in an enclosure since...

House).

History

The site was created with the founding of the UK welfare system in the late 1940s and constisted of a series of 'H Blocks, So named due to their similarity to the letter 'H' when viewed from above.
The old site consisted of a number of brick-built, single-storey H-shaped buildings that dated from the 1940s and a number of other buildings that dated from the 1960s, several of which were multi-storey blocks built in the minimalist concrete-and-glass style of the period.
The older single-storey blocks were numbered (1-16) and the newer blocks designated by letter (A-D).
The ‘H’ blocks are believed to have been built as a hospital accommodation for wounded servicemen from World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, although the buildings were never used for this purpose. It is also widely believed that they were built by German prisoners of war and were never intended for long-term use.
These buildings were considered suitable as office space and were to remain in service for fifty years. Over the next few decades, the site grew as a major source of employment in the north-east of England, particularly on Tyneside.
During the 1970s, the site employed approximately 10,000 staff, and contained banks, a post office, a gentlemen’s hairdresser, a garden shop, and a staff canteen with licensed bar. Special bus transport was provided for staff that travelled to and from many locations in the area.

The number of staff employed on the site steadily declined over the 1980s and 1990s, and most of the amenities listed above closed as clerical functions came to be performed by computers and personnel were decanted to other sites, notably the Tyneview Park

Tyneview Park

Tyneview Park is a large government office site in Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Tyneview Park is home to many departments of The Pension Service, an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions.-Site:...

site, which is located a kilometre or so east of Benton Park View, and to sites at the Cobalt Business Park

Cobalt Business Park

Cobalt Park in North Tyneside is the UK's largest office park, with around of office space built or under construction. It is situated next to West Allotment, and has good transport access....

, situated between North Shields

North Shields

North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in North East England...

and Shiremoor

Shiremoor

Shiremoor is a large village in the Metropolitian Borough of North Tyneside. It is located approximately inland of Whitley Bay and approximately north of The Tyne Tunnel. A mile or so north of Shiremoor, the extensive built-up areas of North Tyneside change abruptly into green belt stretching...

. The physical deterioration of the buildings had become increasingly evident, and so it was decided to construct the new buildings while demolishing the old, moving staff appropriately.

The only remaining remnant of the old site is the George VI

George VI of the United Kingdom

George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...

plinth, a small stone plinth named after the monarch who opened the site, that once formed the base of the flagpole at the entrance to the old site. The plinth now stands at the centre of a small outside seating area at the rear (or western) end of the site.

Overview

Function

Current Site

History

See also