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Newcastle town wall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Newcastle town wall is a medieval defensive wall, and Scheduled Ancient Monument[1], located in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Constructed during the 13th century to repel Scottish invaders, the wall was approximately 3km/2 miles long, at least 2 metres/7 feet thick and up to 7.6 metres/25 feet high. It had 6 major gateways and 17 towers as well as several smaller turrets and postern gates. The walls protected the town for about 500 years, but by the mid-18th century they were no longer required and quickly fell into disrepair. Over the next 100 years or so, large portions of the wall were removed to make way for new developments and to create better access to the town centre.
Today, only a few sections of the wall remain. These can be found at:
- Hanover Gardens - Between the 1840’s and the 1980’s warehouses covered this partially demolished section of wall.
- Orchard Street
- Pink Lane - Excavated foundations of Gunner Tower.
- Bath Lane/West Walls - This stretch of wall includes Durham Tower.
- Stowell Street (behind) - The longest stretch of surviving wall. Includes Heber Tower, Morden Tower and Ever Tower.
- St Andrew’s Churchyard
- Croft Street - Plummer Tower.
- City Road (near the railway bridge) - Corner Tower.
- Tower Street - Sallyport Tower.
There were six main gateways through the wall, they were (clockwise from western end):
Close Gate
West Gate
New Gate - This gate, in later years, became the town gaol. Condemned prisoners would be taken from here along Gallowgate to the gallows on the Town Moor.
Pilgrim Gate
Pandon Gate
Sand Gate
- ^ List of Scheduled Ancient Monuments within Newcastle upon Tyne. www.newcastle.gov.uk. Retrieved on March 23, 2007.