Newcastle town wall, curtain on the Quayside

HER Number:
1566

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle town wall, curtain on the Quayside

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Town Defences

Site Type: Specific:
Town Wall

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C15

Form of Evidence:
Destroyed Monument

Description:
At some point late in the 14th century or early in the 15th century the town wall was built along the quay between Sand Gate and either the bridge gate or the guildhall. Though a considerable obstruction to activities on the quay the wall survived until the 18th century when, in 1762, the common council received royal permission to demolish it. The lower courses of this stretch of wall survived beneath the road until the Interceptor Sewer removed most of them, and were seen during public works on a number of occasions. The extreme east end was excavated in 1992. The Quayside wall was c. 2.40 metres thick, had up to 3 external chamfers and, in the excavated section, was of one phase but with evidence of building breaks, and was perhaps built from west to east.

Easting:
2557

Northing:
6400

Grid Reference:
NZ25576400

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1566 >> J. Corbridge, 1723, A Plan of Newcastle upon Tyne Illustration, S. & N. Buck, 1745 A View of Newcastle Northumberland Records Office, ZRI - 1762 - 27.9 G.B. Richardson, 19th century, The Walls of Newcastle, 219, 221, 223 -Newcastle University Library Unpublished MS S. Holmes, 1897, Remains of Town Wall, Quayside, Newcastle, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 2, VIII (for 1897-98), 123 W.H. Knowles, 1905, The Newcastle Town Wall near Sandgate, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 3, II (for 1905-06), 63 W.H. Knowles, 1907, Town Wall, Quayside, Newcastle,Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 3, III (for 1907-08), 56, 58 C. O'Brien, 1988, The Origins of the Newcastle Quayside, Society of Antiquaries Monograph Series, No. 3, 156-7 B. Harbottle & F.C. Burton in J. Nolan, 1989, The Medieval Town Defences...4. The Town Wall on the Quayside, Archaeologia Aeliana, 5, XVII, 74-76 D.H. Heslop, 1995, Excavation of the Town Wall in the Milk Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 5, XXIII,