Preserving the city’s old defences
WORKMEN employed by Newcastle Corporation were busy carrying out preservation work on remains of the old Town Wall in the west of the city 90 years ago.
Our display photograph dates from late July 1932. The appreciation and conservation of significant ancient structures was a relatively recent advance.
In the middle of the 19th century, Newcastle’s by-then decrepit Castle Keep had only just avoided being forcibly demolished to make way for a new railway line.
And across Northumberland, sections of Hadrian’s Wall had been plundered for building materials for centuries.
It’s fascinating to think old Newcastle was once surrounded and protected by a mighty wall, around 20 feet high and seven feet thick. Today, a handful of sections of the Town Wall are still visible around the city.
It was built as a defence during the 13th and 14th centuries during a troubled age when England was fearful of the hostile kingdom of Scotland.
Surrounding the whole town – apart from a short section alongside the natural defence of the Quayside – the walls were two miles long.
There were six main gates, and there were 17 towers, six of which survive. Sections of the wall also had the added protection of a deep ditch. Between the towers were rectangular turrets, with loopholes for archers.
The wall enclosed the Castle and its Black Gate, as well as the main medieval commercial district along the Quayside, and all the town northwards up to St Andrew’s Church. Inside the walls, Newcastle was divided into 24 districts, with residents of each district responsible for the defence of a particular gate.
The town’s defence was broken only once, after a lengthy siege by a 30,000-strong Scottish army during the English Civil War in 1644.
In later centuries, after hostilities ceased, the walls fell into disrepair and were largely demolished – while the towers were often given over to trades guilds who would meet there.
Had it still existed today, the likes of Northumberland Street, Percy Street, the RVI and St James’ Park would all have been outside the Town Walls.
Walk past Grey’s Monument, along Blackett Street and past Eldon Square today, and that’s where the Northern section of the 20ft high wall would have run.