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Tower Mews, Darlington was originally designed for Joseph Pease in the 1860’s by the renowned Victorian architect, Alfred Waterhouse who is most famous for the design of the National History Museum in London.

The Pease family was a notable Quaker family living in the Darlington area. Edward Pease, born in 1767, was the son of a wool merchant and is best remembered for setting up the Stockton to Darlington Steam Railway with the father of modern railways, George Stephenson.

Joseph Pease, Edward’s son, continued to develop his father’s business and by 1830 had become the largest colliery owner in the whole of the South Durham coalfields. He then purchased 520 acres of land in Middlesbrough and developed the Middlesbrough docks to export coal from his collieries.

In 1832 Joseph became the country’s first Quaker MP and supported the Whig governments of Earl Grey and Lord Melbourne and was notable for supporting the campaign to end slavery. From the time of his retirement from politics in 1841 until his death in 1872, he became a minister with the Society of Friends [Quaker Movement] and president of the Peace Society.

Tower Mews was developed during the 1860’s following Joseph Pease’s retirement from politics. It formed the servant’s wing attached to two substantial houses on adjoining plots. Also adjacent to the property, and within the gardens, Waterhouse designed and built a clock tower reminiscent of the one he designed for the Darlington covered market.

The servant’s wing was anything but utilitarian in its design, being almost as grand as the two main houses and of equal size and proportion. The building is constructed from ashlar stone walls with large sash windows which have decorative heads and sills. Externally the most notable features are the ornate stone gables and chimneys and the substantial blue slate roofs.

Internally the building was dominated by the grand staircase complete with finely detail newel posts and by the full height 1st floor chapel/prayer rooms, which would have been central to the Quaker lifestyle and beliefs of Joseph Pease.