At risk... warning that time could be called on the old Cooperage
FEARS HAVE EMERGED FOR THE FUTURE OF AN HISTORIC CITY LANDMARK - TIM STICKINGS REPORTS ON NEWCASTLE’S COOPERAGE PUBLIC HOUSE
OVER its 600 year lifespan it’s been a wealthy merchant’s house, a barrel maker’s shop, a grocer’s and a pub.
But the colourful past of the Cooperage on Newcastle’s Quayside may not be enough to save it as it’s been identified as in danger of being lost after it was added to Historic England’s register of at-risk buildings on Thursday.
It started life as a 15th-century merchant’s house which became a barrel-maker’s shop, a grocer before becoming a pub.
The Grade II-listed Quayside venue, one of the last timberframed buildings still standing in Newcastle, is also said to be one of the most haunted places in the city.
According to legend, the ghost of one unlucky Geordie called Henry Hardwick still lingers in the alleyway next to the Old Cooperage.
The story goes that Henry was running away from a press gang, who were trying to force him into the Navy, and eventually caught up with him, murdered him and gouged his eyes out.
Another story tells of an alleged child killer who was kicked to death next to the windows overlooking the river, by a group of attackers who hid his body appropriately enough - in a barrel and dropped it into the Tyne. Legend has it the ghost of this character appears in a fishing hat.
The Cooperage got its modern name from the ownership of a successful barrel-making company, which made vessels for beer, wine, butter and fish.
The venue then became a pub in the 1970s, which was listed in the AA Good Pub Guide.
A guide to Newcastle pubs
described it as follows: “There is a cosy atmosphere in the pub with two small bars on either side of the main entrance. The bar has a timber-framed ceiling with wooden beams. Old pictures of Newcastle adorn the walls.
“The pub attracts students, locals and Quayside revellers. There is an excellent view of the Tyne and High Level bridges from the pub. It can be busy at most times due to its reputation for excellent real ales.”
The timbers on the ground floor are reputed to have come from a Dutch merchant ship which sank in the Tyne as long ago as 1430. The pub closed several years ago, however, when Newcastle Council decided it had to be altered to meet modern soundproofing standards, but the bar’s owners could not afford to make the necessary changes. Historic England now say the building is “vacant and deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance”. In 1531 it was granted to Thomas Horsley, the founder of Newcastle Royal Grammar School, and swapped between merchant families for the next few centuries, at various times featuring a Victorian grocery shop and a silk manufacturer who lived there with his family.
The Cooperage also survived the great fire of 1854, a huge explosion which sent fireballs across the Tyne and could be heard as far away as Hartlepool according to contemporary reports, and wiped out many of the buildings which used to line the Quayside.
More recent archaeological work revealed pottery from the late medieval period, in the 14th and 15th centuries, and even some scattered artefacts of Roman Britain.
The Cooperage goes back centuries - let’s hope it stays there for several more yet.
There is a cosy atmosphere in the pub with two small bars on either side of the main entrance The AA Good Pub Guide