The Penrose Fountain sits at the site of the old High Teams Workhouse, a workhouse for the poor people of Gateshead.
In June, 1890 The High Teams Workhouse opened its doors to accommodate 922 inmates, with a school for 300 children.
The new workhouse had four main areas. There was an entrance block with porter's lodge and casuals' and receiving wards on Workhouse Lane at the west. The main building at the centre of the site included administrative offices, kitchens, and male and female wards. A hospital was at the south-east of the site, having a central administration block flanked by pavilion wards for male and female patients. Finally, there was the school at the north of the site, also arranged with a central administrative block and separate pavilions for boys and girls.
The site later became High Teams Institution. In 1938, the Institution's hospital facilities separated to become Bensham General Hospital. The remainder of the establishment was renamed Fountain View after 1948 and provided hostel accommodation for the homeless. Most of the workhouse buildings were demolished in 1969. All that now remains is the administrative block and the northern pavilions of the original hospital building.
The fountain is presumably called after one of the matrons of Institution called Mrs Penrose, who died in 1886.
The cache is a photograph capsule and is hidden in a space close to the fountain.
FTF toonburner on 30th July 2015.