Before the Second World War cricket weeks at Close House attracted famous touring sides. There is a legend that W.G. Grace once played here and undoubtedly took tea in the pavilion. Matches were played regularly when Close House was owned by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1960 to 2004.
When golf superseded cricket the pavilion became the main golf club house. A new, custom-designed club house has been built on a different site to support the post-University development of Close House Mansion and its two golf courses.
"Close House, a Georgian mansion in the countryside west of Newcastle, had its own cricket pitch and indeed - between the wars - its own cricket team. The 1894 pavilion and scorebox - both little changed externally - were designed by Newcastle architectural practice Septimus Oswald & Son, best known for their work with Newcastle Breweries. The former cricket pitch is now a golf course, and the pavilion is currently serving as the golf clubhouse."
The Architecture of Cricket: Pavilions Home and Away by Lynn Pearson (2011)
ChronicleLive 9th July 2017
Close House