North Shields, Grieve's Stairs

HER Number:
12104

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
North Shields, Grieve's Stairs

Place:
North Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Building Component

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Staircase

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
Shown on Ordnance Survey Second Edition of 1898. Connected Bedford Street to Lower Bedford Street. Named after Grieve's Ironmongery (HER 7855). During the 1800s the town began to sprawl up the bankstowards the higher ground in an attempt to escape the overcrowded riverside. Roads could not be built up the steep gradient and so a series of stairs connected the riverside with the high town. Dwellings, public houses, shops and workshops clustered around these stairs which Hutchinson (1776) described as busy, narrow, dirty alleys.

Easting:
3563

Northing:
6815

Grid Reference:
NZ35636815

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Tyne and Wear Museums, 2006, Land Adjacent to Borough Road, North Shields - Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Assessment; FISHcast, sub-group of FISH (Folk Interested in Shields Harbour), 2007, North Shields - The New Quay and The Fish Quay Conservation Areas - FISHcast Community Character Statement