A chare , in the dialect of North-east England , is a narrow medieval street or alley.
82-585: Chares and much of the layout of Newcastle 's Quayside date from medieval times. At one point, there were 20 chares in Newcastle. After the great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead in 1854, a number of the chares were permanently removed although many remain in existence today. Chares also are still present in the higher parts of the city centre. According to "Quayside and the Chares" by Jack and John Leslie, chares reflected their name or residents. "Names might change over
164-551: A degree of self-government. The rights and functions belonging to each borough varied, depending on what had been included in the borough's charter . The inhabitants of a borough were deemed in law to be capable of acting as a single corporate person , allowing the borough to enter into contracts and litigation. The ruling body of a borough was commonly called its corporation, although the terms 'town council' and 'city council' were also used. Many boroughs had rights under their charters to hold certain types of court cases. Around 1132,
246-596: A grand dinner attended by 2000 guests, and the Laing Art Gallery has a painting of this event. With the exception of the timber roof which was destroyed by a fire in 1901 and replaced by latticed-steel arches the Market is largely in its original condition. The Grainger Market architecture, like most in Grainger Town, which are either grade I or II listed, was listed grade I in 1954 by English Heritage. The development of
328-487: A handful of historic densely occupied, arguably overinflated markets in the local authorities: Harrogate , Cheltenham , Bath , inner London, Hastings , Brighton and Royal Tunbridge Wells . Significant Newcastle housing developments include Ralph Erskine 's the Byker Wall designed in the 1960s, and now Grade II* listed . It is on UNESCO 's list of outstanding 20th-century buildings. The Byker Redevelopment has won
410-538: A monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen . This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper and develop into a major town. The phrase taking coals to Newcastle was first recorded contextually in 1538. The phrase itself means a pointless pursuit. In the 18th century, the American entrepreneur Timothy Dexter , regarded as an eccentric, defied this idiom. He
492-476: A new status of county borough . The new local government arrangements in 1889 did not directly affect the counties corporate, which were judicial in nature rather than providing local government functions. However, most of the counties corporate also qualified to be made county boroughs. There were only five counties corporate which did not become county boroughs, being Berwick upon Tweed , Lichfield , Poole , Carmarthen and Haverfordwest. Those five became part of
574-586: A part of the City undergoing redevelopment. The slow demise of the shipyards on the banks of the River Tyne happened in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. During the Second World War, the city and surrounding area were a target for air raids as heavy industry was involved in the production of ships and armaments. The raids caused 141 deaths and 587 injuries. A former French consul in Newcastle called Jacques Serre assisted
656-533: A result of the fire and are no longer extant. The chares that were not rebuilt were replaced by Queen Street, King Street and Lombard Street. Hornsby's Chare , formerly named Maryon House Chare , Colvin's Chare , formerly Black Boy's Chare , Pallister's Chare , formerly Armourer's Chare , Blue Anchor Chare , also known as Blew Anchor Chare , Peppercorn Chare and Grinding Chare , also known as Grandon/Grandin Chare were destroyed and no longer exist. Dark Chare ,
738-455: A statutory term, 'county corporate' came to be used to describe these places which were legally counties, but where the right to appoint a sheriff rested with the borough corporation rather than with the monarch. Some of the counties corporate were also the county town of the wider county in which they lay. In nine such cases ( Carmarthen , Chester , Exeter , Gloucester , Lincoln , Newcastle upon Tyne , Norwich , Nottingham , and York )
820-478: A substantial amount of property in the two North East of England towns was destroyed in a series of fires and an explosion which killed 53 and injured hundreds. The status of city was granted to Newcastle on 3 June 1882. In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution . This revolution resulted in
902-569: A thriving, cosmopolitan area with bars, restaurants, hotels and public spaces. The historic heart of Newcastle is the Grainger Town area. Established on classical streets built by Richard Grainger , a builder and developer, between 1835 and 1842, some of Newcastle upon Tyne's finest buildings and streets lie within this area of the city centre including Grainger Market , Theatre Royal , Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street. These buildings are predominantly four stories high, with vertical dormers, domes, turrets and spikes. Richard Grainger
SECTION 10
#1732852870526984-664: Is Exhibition Park , which contains the only remaining pavilion from the North East Coast Exhibition of 1929 . From the 1970s until 2006 this housed the Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum; which closed in 2006. The pavilion is now being used as a microbrewery and concert venue for Wylam Brewery . The wooded gorge of the Ouseburn in the east of the city is known as Jesmond Dene and forms another recreation area, linked by Armstrong Park and Heaton Park to
1066-526: Is St James' Park , the stadium home of Newcastle United FC which dominates the view of the city from all directions. Another major green space in the city is the Town Moor , lying immediately north of the city centre. It is larger than London's Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath put together and the freemen of the city have the right to graze cattle on it. The right extends to the pitch of St. James' Park , Newcastle United Football Club's ground ; this
1148-524: Is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear , England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough , located on the River Tyne 's northern bank opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England . Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius . The settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on
1230-607: Is a constituent member of the North East Mayoral Combined Authority . The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius (" Hadrian 's bridge"), a Roman fort and bridge across the River Tyne . It was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian , who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain. The population of Pons Aelius then
1312-628: Is estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrian's Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road. The course of the "Roman Wall" can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend – the "wall's end" – and to the separate supply fort of Arbeia in South Shields , across the river from Hadrian's Wall. The extent of Hadrian's Wall was 73 miles (117 km), spanning
1394-671: Is not exercised, although the Freemen do collect rent for the loss of privilege. Honorary freemen include Bob Geldof , King Harald V of Norway, Bobby Robson , Alan Shearer , the late Nelson Mandela and the Royal Shakespeare Company . The Hoppings funfair, said to be the largest travelling funfair in Europe, is held here annually in June. In the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor
1476-467: Is the most crowded with buildings of any part in his majesty's dominions." On the Quayside, there are a large number of chares still in existence. Many of them are now just narrow alleyways and routes although some of them have been widened and their uses have been extended because of it: Other than on the riverside, there are a number of chares in existence in the higher parts of the city: Other chares on
1558-483: The Corporation of London was given the right to appoint two sheriffs to jointly serve the city and the county of Middlesex in which it was located, instead of the monarch appointing a Sheriff of Middlesex with jurisdiction over London as had previously been the case. Other boroughs later campaigned for the right to appoint their own sheriffs too, which would allow them to hold all types of court case. In 1373, Bristol
1640-531: The Local Government Act 1972 which abolished all municipal boroughs. Some of the new bodies created in 1974, including town councils for civil parishes and non-metropolitan district councils, were given the right to continue to appoint a ceremonial sheriff if that town or city had been a county corporate prior to 1974. In Ireland, eight counties corporate were extant by 1610. Each had its own grand jury , assizes and county gaol, separate from those of
1722-566: The London Library by half a century. Some founder members of the Literary and Philosophical Society were abolitionists. Newcastle also became a glass producer with a reputation for brilliant flint glass . A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which
SECTION 20
#17328528705261804-562: The Ouseburn Valley , where the river finally reaches the River Tyne . The springtime dawn chorus at 55 degrees latitude has been described as one of the best in the world. The dawn chorus of the Jesmond Dene green space has been professionally recorded and has been used in various workplace and hospital rehabilitation facilities. The area around the Tyne Gorge, between Newcastle on
1886-666: The Roman departure from Britain , completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria , and was known throughout this period as Munucceaster (sometimes modernised as Monkchester ). Conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the settlements along the River Tyne in ruins. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester
1968-503: The administrative county in which they were situated for local government purposes, but retained their separate judicial functions and right to appoint their own sheriffs. The City of London retained (and as of 2024 still retains) its previous status, including most responsibilities associated with a borough and some normally associated with a county, for example having its own police force and its own education authority. The assizes , quarter sessions and other courts which had been under
2050-646: The militia for each county; with the exceptions of London and Haverfordwest , each county corporate was covered by the lieutenant of an adjoining county. Provisions were also made allowing court cases arising from counties corporate to be heard at the assizes for the adjoining county. "County corporate" was not a statutory name, but was a commonly used description for such towns and cities. Other terms used included county of itself or city and county . They were similar to an independent city or consolidated city-county in other countries. The equivalent term in Scotland
2132-561: The 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson . More recently, Newcastle architecture considered to be Tyneside classical has been extensively restored. Broadcaster and writer Stuart Maconie described Newcastle as England's best-looking city and the German-born British scholar of architecture, Nikolaus Pevsner , describes Grey Street as one of the finest streets in England. In 1948 the poet John Betjeman said of Grey Street, "As for
2214-467: The 1920s, and the process continued into the 1970s, along with substantial private house building and acquisitions. Unemployment hit record heights in Newcastle during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The city's last coal pit closed in 1956, though a temporary open cast mine was opened in 2013. The temporary open cast mine shifted 40,000 tonnes of coal, using modern techniques to reduce noise, on
2296-465: The 19th century were a group of unrelated people who lived in and around the centre of Newcastle and its Quayside between the end of the 18th and early/mid 19th century. They are depicted in a painting by Henry Perlee Parker . Newcastle was the country's fourth largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge , and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages, predated
2378-633: The German war effort by describing important targets in the region to Admiral Raeder who was the head of the German Navy. The public sector in Newcastle began to expand in the 1960s. The federal structure of the University of Durham was dissolved. That university's college in Newcastle, which had been known as King's College, became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (now known as Newcastle University ), which
2460-570: The Great Exhibition of the North, the largest event in England in 2018. The exhibition began on 22 June with an opening ceremony on the River Tyne, and ended on 9 September with the Great North Run weekend. The exhibition describes the story of the north of England through its innovators, artists, designers and businesses. In 2019, various travel sites named Newcastle to be the friendliest city in
2542-468: The North . Newcastle's thriving Chinatown lies in the north-west of Grainger Town , centred on Stowell Street. A new Chinese arch, or paifang , providing a landmark entrance, was handed over to the city with a ceremony in 2005. The Tyneside flat was the dominant housing form constructed at the time when the industrial centres on Tyneside were growing most rapidly. They can still be found in areas such as South Heaton in Newcastle but once dominated
Chare - Misplaced Pages Continue
2624-536: The Quayside that remains are Wrangham's Entry, Spencer's Entry, the Swirle, Flag Chare and Anchor Chare. These reconstructed chares exist on the Sandgate/East Quayside modern office developments. Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne , or simply Newcastle ( / nj uː ˈ k æ s əl / new- KASS -əl , RP : / ˈ nj uː k ɑː s əl / NEW -kah-səl ),
2706-691: The Select Committee on Grand Jury Presentments of Ireland found none of the counties corporate except Drogheda derived any advantage from their status, and recommended they be absorbed as baronies of the adjoining county-at-large. The counties corporate were explicitly abolished in 1899 under the terms of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 . Cork , Dublin, Limerick and Waterford became county boroughs. Carrickfergus, Drogheda, Galway and Kilkenny became parts of administrative counties. The baronies of Carrickfergus and Galway are coterminous with
2788-654: The UK. Since 1974, Newcastle has been a part of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear in North East England . The city is located on the north-western bank of the River Tyne , approximately 46 miles (74 km) south of the border with Scotland. The ground beneath the city is formed from Carboniferous strata of the Middle Pennine Coal Measures Group — a suite of sandstones , mudstones and coal seams which generally dip moderately eastwards. To
2870-504: The adjacent county-at-large in 1840–2; the exceptions were Galway and Carrickfergus , where the municipal corporation was abolished instead. The extant baronies of Cork and Dublin are coterminous with the territories transferred from the respective cities in 1840, while the North Liberties barony is part of the former county of the city of Limerick , whose south liberties were absorbed by pre-existing baronies. The 1842 report of
2952-466: The adjoining "county-at-large", even though the relevant city or town might be the county town of the county-at-large, in which case the latter's courthouse and gaol would be considered exclaves of the county-at-large. An act of 1788 allowed the same courthouse or gaol to be shared by county corporate and county-at-large. ( Dublin city and County Dublin , like the City of London and Middlesex , were outside
3034-428: The area around the courthouse for the wider county was excluded from the county corporate, making such courthouses exclaves of the wider county. As well as larger towns and cities, some counties corporate were created to deal with specific local problems, such as border conflict (in the case of Berwick-upon-Tweed ) and piracy (in the cases of Poole and Haverfordwest ). Most of the counties corporate only covered
3116-461: The assize system but similarly separate jurisdictions.) Where an act of Parliament referred to "any county" it was doubtful that this included counties corporate, the latter intent being expressed as "any county, county of a city, or county of a town". Acts of 1542 and 1765 were extended to counties corporate in 1807. Each county corporate contained rural "liberties" outside the city or town's municipal boundary; in six cases these were transferred to
3198-492: The assizes for the neighbouring county. In 1836 all the counties corporate except London were reformed to become municipal boroughs under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 . Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 . Certain boroughs were considered large enough for their existing corporations to provide county-level local government functions, and so they were given
3280-452: The authority is one of few authorities to see the proportion of detached homes rise in the 2010 Census (to 7.8%), in this instance this was coupled with a similar rise in flats and waterside apartments to 25.6%, and the proportion of converted or shared houses in 2011 renders this dwelling type within the highest of the five colour-coded brackets at 5.9%, and on a par with Oxford and Reading , greater than Manchester and Liverpool and below
3362-492: The borough, but in three cases they extended beyond the borough boundaries to include adjoining areas. York was made a county corporate in 1396, and its jurisdiction was extended in 1449 to cover an area to the west of the city known as the Ainsty . Kingston upon Hull was made a county corporate in 1440, and its jurisdiction was extended in 1447 to cover an adjoining area to the west, which became known as Hullshire . When Coventry
Chare - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-483: The city in the 1960s saw the demolition of part of Grainger Town as a prelude to the modernist rebuilding initiatives of T. Dan Smith , the leader of Newcastle City Council . A corruption scandal was uncovered involving Smith and John Poulson , a property developer from Pontefract , West Yorkshire, and both were imprisoned. Echoes of the scandal were revisited in the late 1990s in the BBC TV mini-series, Our Friends in
3526-483: The city today dates from this period. Throughout the Middle Ages , Newcastle was England's northern fortress. In 1400 Newcastle was separated from Northumberland for administrative purposes and made a county of itself by Henry IV . Newcastle was given the title of the county of the town of Newcastle upon Tyne. The town had a new charter granted by Elizabeth I in 1589. A 25-foot-high (7.6 m) stone wall
3608-462: The county corporate of Coventry was abolished completely and the city and surrounding villages were placed back under the authority of the Sheriff of Warwickshire . The Sheriff of the City of London also had a jurisdiction that extended beyond the city boundary, covering the whole of the county of Middlesex. In 1889 the sheriff's jurisdiction was reduced to just cover the city itself, on the creation of
3690-399: The courts system was reformed. The counties corporate were abolished in England and Wales in 1974, although some of the former counties corporate still retain the right to appoint a ceremonial sheriff. Counties were originally areas used for the administration of justice. Each had a sheriff, who was usually appointed by the monarch. Separately, boroughs were certain towns or cities which had
3772-526: The curve of Grey Street, I shall never forget seeing it to perfection, traffic-less on a misty Sunday morning." The street curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne and was voted England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. In the Google Street View awards of 2010, Grey Street came 3rd in the British picturesque category. A portion of Grainger Town
3854-680: The epidemic; this may also have been the most devastating loss in any British city in this period. During the English Civil War , the North declared for the King. In a bid to gain Newcastle and the Tyne, Cromwell's allies, the Scots, captured the town of Newburn . In 1644, the Scots then captured the reinforced fortification on the Lawe in South Shields following a siege and the city was besieged for many months . It
3936-558: The exceptions of London and Haverfordwest. Instead, lieutenants were appointed to what was termed the 'county at large', including counties corporate with the adjoining county from which they had been separated. The practice of not appointing separate lieutenants for counties corporate was an informal convention at first, but was subsequently made statutory under the Militia Act 1882. From the 18th century onwards, court cases arising from counties corporate were allowed to be held jointly with
4018-701: The first Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design in 1988. Newcastle has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ). Data in Newcastle was first collected in 1802 by the solicitor James Losh . Situated in the rain shadow of the North Pennines , Newcastle is amongst the driest cities in the UK. Temperature extremes recorded at Newcastle Weather Centre include 37.0 °C (98.6 °F) set in July 2022 down to −14.0 °C (6.8 °F) on 29 December 1995. Newcastle can have cool to cold winters, though usually warmer than
4100-478: The first of the alleys by Sandhill and described by in 1827 by Eneas Mackenzie, was also destroyed. He said of Dark Chare that "a stout person would find it rather inconvenient to press through the upper part of this lane. It is very properly termed the Dark Chare, for the houses at the top nearly touch each other. It is not now used as a thoroughfare. It has been justly observed, that the ground occupied by these chares
4182-469: The keels, boats that were used to transfer coal from the river banks to the waiting colliers , for export to London and elsewhere. In the 1630s, about 7,000 out of 20,000 inhabitants of Newcastle died of plague , more than one-third of the population. Specifically within the year 1636, it is roughly estimated with evidence held by the Society of Antiquaries that 47% of the then population of Newcastle died from
SECTION 50
#17328528705264264-471: The monarch gave a borough corporation the right to appoint its own sheriffs , separating that borough from the jurisdiction of the sheriff of the county in which it lay. They were legally described as forming separate counties, but in both contemporary usage whilst they existed and in discussion by modern historians the counties corporate are generally distinguished from the wider counties. From Tudor times onwards lord lieutenants were appointed to oversee
4346-626: The motor car, Newcastle's road network was improved in the early part of the 20th century, beginning with the opening of the Redheugh road bridge in 1901 and the Tyne Bridge in 1928. Efforts to preserve the city's historic past were evident as long ago as 1934, when the Museum of Science and Industry opened, as did the John G Joicey Museum in the same year. Council housing began to replace inner-city slums in
4428-480: The name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror 's eldest son, Robert Curthose . It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the Industrial Revolution . Newcastle was historically part of the county of Northumberland , but governed as a county corporate after 1400. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear . The local authority is Newcastle City Council , which
4510-460: The north bank and Gateshead on the south bank, is the famous Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside . It is famed for its series of dramatic bridges, including the Tyne Bridge of 1928 which was built by Dorman Long of Middlesbrough , Robert Stephenson 's High Level Bridge of 1849, the first road/rail bridge in the world, and the Swing Bridge of 1876. Large-scale regeneration efforts have led to
4592-711: The replacement of former shipping premises with modern new office developments; an innovative tilting bridge - the Gateshead Millennium Bridge - integrated the Quayside more closely with the Gateshead Quayside, home to the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (the venue for the Turner Prize 2011) and the Norman Foster -designed The Sage Gateshead music centre. The Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides are now
4674-508: The responsibility of a sheriff were all abolished in 1972 under the Courts Act 1971 , thus ending the judicial powers associated with being a county corporate. The counties corporate were not explicitly abolished by the 1971 Act, and they retained the right to appoint a sheriff, albeit no longer holding any powers. With the exception of the City of London, the other counties corporate, being a type of municipal borough , were abolished in 1974 under
4756-415: The revolution of marine propulsion and the production of cheap electricity . In 1882, Newcastle became the seat of an Anglican diocese , with St. Nicholas' Church becoming its cathedral. Newcastle's public transport system was modernised in 1901 when Newcastle Corporation Tramways electric trams were introduced to the city's streets, though these were replaced gradually by trolley buses from 1935, with
4838-437: The rights to appoint their own sheriff generally did not use the term 'county corporate', instead using wording which made the borough into a new county and directed that the sheriff for that new county should be chosen by the borough corporation, rather than the monarch as was the case for other counties. One exception was the charter awarded to Coventry in 1451, which did explicitly use the term 'county corporate'. Although not
4920-619: The riverside to higher parts of the city centre and the extant Castle Keep , originally recorded in the 14th century, remain intact in places. Close, Sandhill and Quayside contain modern buildings as well as structures dating from the 15th–18th centuries, including Bessie Surtees House , the Cooperage and Lloyds Quayside Bars, Derwentwater House and House of Tides, a restaurant situated at a Grade I-listed 16th century merchant's house at 28–30 Close. The city has an extensive neoclassical centre referred to as Tyneside Classical, largely developed in
5002-540: The rural areas around it, and the winters are often compensated for by warm summers, with very long daylight hours in the summer months, longer than all other major English cities. Newcastle upon Tyne shares the same latitude as Copenhagen and southern Sweden. County corporate A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for the administration of justice in certain towns and cities in England , Wales , and Ireland . They arose when
SECTION 60
#17328528705265084-495: The separate positions of Sheriff of the County of London , covering the rest of the new County of London as lay outside the city itself, and Sheriff of Middlesex , covering the reduced area of Middlesex that was left outside the County of London. Lord-lieutenants began to be appointed in each county from Tudor times onwards. Although counties corporate were legally described as counties, they were not given their own lieutenants, with
5166-518: The statue, and the monument plinth was designed and built by Benjamin Green. The Grainger Market replaced an earlier market originally built in 1808 called the Butcher Market. The Grainger Market itself, was opened in 1835 and was Newcastle's first indoor market. At the time of its opening in 1835 it was said to be one of the largest and most beautiful markets in Europe. The opening was celebrated with
5248-495: The streetscape on both sides of the Tyne. Tyneside flats were built as terraces, one of each pair of doors led to an upstairs flat while the other led into the ground-floor flat, each of two or three rooms. A new development in the Ouseburn valley has recreated them; Architects Cany Ash and Robert Sakula were attracted by the possibilities of high density without building high and getting rid of common areas. In terms of housing stock,
5330-521: The tram service finally coming to an end in 1950. The city acquired its first art gallery, the Laing Art Gallery in 1904, so named after its founder Alexander Laing, a Scottish wine and spirit merchant who wanted to give something back to the city in which he had made his fortune. Another art gallery, the Hatton Gallery (now part of Newcastle University ), opened in 1925. With the advent of
5412-416: The turn of the 21st century included the Life Science Centre in 2000 and Millennium Bridge in 2001. Based at St James' Park since 1886, Newcastle United F.C. became Football League members in 1893. They have won four top division titles (the first in 1905 and the most recent in 1927), six FA Cups (the first in 1910 and the most recent in 1955) and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969. They broke
5494-422: The urbanisation of the city. In 1817 the Maling company, at one time the largest pottery company in the world, moved to the city. The Victorian industrial revolution brought industrial structures that included the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (4 km) Victoria Tunnel , built in 1842, which provided underground wagon ways to the staithes . On 3 February 1879, Mosley Street in the city, was the first public road in
5576-402: The west of the city are the Upper Pennine Coal Measures and further west again the sandstones and mudstones of the Stainmore Formation, the local equivalent of the Millstone Grit . In large parts, Newcastle still retains a medieval street layout. Narrow alleys or ' chares ', most of which can only be traversed by foot, still exist in abundance, particularly around the riverside . Stairs from
5658-418: The width of Britain; the Wall incorporated the Vallum , a large rearward ditch with parallel mounds, and was built primarily for defence and to prevent the incursion of Pictish tribes from the north, and probably not as a fighting line for a major invasion. However, it seems that the Vallum stopped just west of Newcastle, where its role as a secondary line of defence was performed by the River Tyne . After
5740-427: The world to be lit up by the incandescent lightbulb . Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to be lit up by electric lighting. Innovations in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the development of safety lamps , Stephenson's Rocket , Lord Armstrong 's artillery, Be-Ro flour, Lucozade , Joseph Swan 's electric light bulbs, and Charles Parsons ' invention of the steam turbine , which led to
5822-449: The world transfer record in 1996 by paying £15 million for Blackburn Rovers and England striker Alan Shearer , one of the most prolific goalscorers of that era. In 2017, Newcastle was the venue for the 2017 Freedom City festival. The 2017 Freedom City festival commemorated the 50 years since Dr Martin Luther King's visit to Newcastle, where King received his honorary degree from Newcastle University . In 2018 Newcastle hosted
5904-442: The years, including Armourer's Chare which become Colvin's Chare". Originally inhabited by wealthy merchants, the chares became slums as they were deserted due to their "dark, cramped conditions". The chares were infamous for their insanitary conditions - typhus was "epidemic" and there were three cholera outbreaks in 1831-2, 1848-9 and finally in 1853 (which killed over 1,500 people). A number of chares were destroyed beyond repair as
5986-452: Was a county of a city . In England and Wales, county boroughs were created from 1889 onwards, which were similar in that they were places that were independent from their surrounding counties for local government functions. There was some overlap between the places that were counties corporate for judicial purposes and the places that were county boroughs for local government purposes. Sheriffs retained some judicial functions until 1972 when
6068-417: Was all but destroyed by Odo of Bayeux . Because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose , son of William the Conqueror , erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was henceforth known as Novum Castellum or New Castle . The wooden structure was replaced by a stone castle in 1087. The castle was rebuilt again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in
6150-618: Was built around the town in the 13th century, to defend it from invaders during the Border war against Scotland. The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle in 1174, and Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town. Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century. From 1530, a royal act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to Newcastle Quayside , giving
6232-483: Was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eldon Square Shopping Centre , including all but one side of the original Eldon Square itself. Immediately to the north-west of the city centre is Leazes Park , first opened to the public in 1873 after a petition by 3,000 working men of the city for "ready access to some open ground for the purpose of health and recreation". Just outside one corner of this
6314-441: Was eventually stormed ("with roaring drummes") and sacked by Cromwell's allies. The grateful King bestowed the motto " Fortiter Defendit Triumphans " ("Triumphing by a brave defence") upon the town. Charles I was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646–7. Newcastle opened its first lunatic asylum in 1767. The asylum catered for people from the counties of Newcastle, Durham and Northumberland. The Newcastle Eccentrics of
6396-466: Was founded in 1963, followed by Newcastle Polytechnic in 1969; the latter received university status in 1992 and became the University of Northumbria at Newcastle (now known as Northumbria University ). Further efforts to preserve the city's historic past continued in the later 20th century, with the opening of Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum in 1983 and Stephenson Railway Museum in 1986. The Military Vehicle museum closed in 2006. New developments at
6478-524: Was made a county corporate in 1451 its jurisdiction covered several surrounding villages known as the County of the City of Coventry . York and Hull lost their jurisdiction over the rural areas when both were reduced to just cover the borough boundaries under the Municipal Corporation (Boundaries) Act 1836 . There were disputes about the effect of the 1836 Act on Coventry, which were resolved in 1842 when
6560-460: Was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by merchants plotting to ruin him; however, his shipment arrived on the Tyne during a strike that had crippled local production, allowing him to turn a considerable profit. In the Sandgate area, to the east of the city, and beside the river, resided the close-knit community of keelmen and their families. They were so called because they worked on
6642-444: Was said to 'have found Newcastle of bricks and timber and left it in stone'. Of Grainger Town's 450 buildings, 244 are listed , of which 29 are grade I and 49 are grade II*. Grey's Monument , which commemorates Prime Minister Earl Grey and his Reform Act of 1832 , stands above Monument Metro Station and was designed and built by Edward Hodges Baily and Benjamin Green . Hodges, who also built Nelson's Column , designed and built
6724-466: Was the next borough to be given the right to appoint its own sheriff. Bristol's elevation to being its own county was partly on the basis of its growing size and importance, and partly because the borough straddled the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset (both of which held their courts some distance from Bristol) which had caused problems with the administration of the borough. Other large boroughs later followed suit. The charters giving boroughs
#525474