Centuries of Side effects on city life
NEWCASTLE’S Side is one of the few remaining medieval streets on Tyneside.
Until Dean Street was built in the late 18th century, this was one of two main routes – the only other being Pilgrim Street – from the bustling Quayside to the higher part of town.
Kings, clergy, commoners and marching armies entering the town over the old Tyne Bridge would ascend the steeply sloping street, which led on to the Bigg Market, Newgate Street and Sidgate (which we know as Percy Street today).
According to the Newcastle historian John Brand, the street was given its name because it is a route down the “side” of a hill and because it is by the “side” of the castle.
In medieval times, it was a busy shopping and residential thoroughfare.
One of Newcastle’s most famous sons, Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, a hero of the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, was born on Side in 1748.
In an 1807 letter to The Gentleman’s Magazine, however, one contributor wrote: “The street called The Side would be a disgrace to any corporation in England.”
Our older image shows a thriving row of shops and inns in the 19th century.
Today, the street’s restaurants and pubs are highly popular with 21st-century revellers.
The Crown Posada pub, in particular, is a classic watering hole and a Newcastle gem dating in its current form from around 1880.