TIMELINE
CASTLE
KEEP GUIDE Index
VISITOR
Information INDEX
WHERE TO find US
OPENING TIMES
ADMISSION CHARGES
ACCESS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
Welcome to the Information
Page of the Castle
Keep.
On this page you can find our
guide book and visitor information details, which will show you where to come
and what to expect when you visit us at the Keep.
The purpose of this project is to produce a
‘Timeline in History’, relevant to the site of the Castle of Newcastle upon
Tyne, from pre-history through Roman and Medieval times until the present day.
It has been developed primarily to provide a virtual tour to those, particularly
the disabled, who because of its steep stairways are unable to access the Keep
in person. A section of the ‘Timeline’ is shown below
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Timeline
Dates and
Pictures
|
Timeline Events |
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1812
|
A
Gunner is killed at the Keep.
The
authorities decided to fire a cannon from the roof of the keep at noon
each day and on special occasions. This ceremony was to have tragic
consequences.
At
noon on 7 May, 1812, Gunner John Robson fired the first shot from the roof
of the keep. He started to load the cannon for the second shot, but forgot
to swab out the cannon first. There was still burning powder inside the
bore. It was hot enough to light the second charge before Robson was
ready. The explosion blew off Robson’s right hand and threw his body to
the foot of the keep.
Firing
the noonday gun was soon discontinued - not because of Robson’s death,
but because of the damage it was causing to the buildings surrounding the
keep. When the gun was fired, burning wadding would fly out of the bore,
often setting fire to the densely packed houses in Castle Garth.
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Visit our web site and find out more about the
architectural and social history of the Keep. We also have various special
events during the year, such as plays that are enacted within the castle and its
setting.
The link to the castle web page is shown on
the left of this page, so why not visit us in 'virtual time' before seeing the
castle 'in the flesh'.
Guide to the
Castle of
Newcastle upon Tyne
The
Castle Keep from the South-East
Site Plan of the Castle
The Castle stands on a steep sided promontory overlooking
the River Tyne. It is a readily defensible site which has been occupied for
nearly 2000 years. Flint flakes and a stone axehead found in archaeological hint
at prehistoric activity.
From the mid 2nd century until the beginning of
the 5th century a Roman fort – Pons
Aelius – stood here, guarding the river crossing below. The site of the
Roman bridge was probably where the Swing Bridge now stands. Part of the fort
has been excavated and some of the buildings are now laid out in cobbled detail
to the north and west of the castle keep.
From the 8th century the site of the fort was
used as a Christian cemetery, presumably serving a settlement nearby.
The first castle – the
New Castle upon Tyne – was founded in 1080 by Robert Curthose, eldest son
of William the Conqueror. The castle was probably of motte and bailey type.
Nothing can now be seen above ground.
The castle was rebuilt in stone during the reign of Henry
II, between 1168 and 1178, at a cost of £1,144. This gave the castle the keep
and the curtain wall, with a gatehouse (Bailey Gate) near the south-west corner
of the keep. Other northern castles rebuilt at this time were Norham, Bamburgh
and Prudhoe.
The castle was added to in the 13th century,
particularly during the reign of King John (1207-1216) when an aisled hall was
built in the bailey, and a barbican – now known as the Black Gate – was
added to the north gate in the reign of Henry III between 1247 and 1250.
After the town wall was completed, about the mid 14th
century, the castle was isolated within the new defences and became militarily
redundant. From that time on few repairs are recorded, and by 1589 it was
described as old and ruinous.
In 1618 the castle was leased by James I to one of his
courtiers, Alexander Stephenson, who allowed houses to be built within the
castle walls. The castle was briefly refortified at the time of the civil war,
and was the last stronghold of the Royalist defenders of the town in the siege
of 1644. Restoration of the remaining castle walls and buildings began in the 19th
century and has continued to the present day.
The keep has been restored on a number of occasions,
principally in 1810, 1812 and 1848, and again between the 1960s and 1980s when
crumbling outside stonework was replaced and the interior cleaned. Despite these
changes the keep remains one of the best examples of its type in the country.
Cross-section
through the keep, looking south.
The keep from the south-east, with the south curtain wall in the
foreground.
Its function was two fold, the principal strongpoint of the
castle and the dwelling of the commander of the garrison. The accommodation
consisted of one large room on each floor (there are now three but may have been
originally four) with subsidiary rooms, garderobes (toilets), stairs and
galleries contained within the thickness of the walls. For reasons of defence it
was entered on the second floor by an external stair.
Ground Floor
As originally designed the ground floor contained two
distinct and unconnected sections: the chapel and what is now called the
‘garrison room’.
Ground floor plan.
The chapel lies below the main entrance stairway. In the
middle ages it could only be entered from the outside through a small door to
the left of the stairs. The chapel consists of a small nave set at right angles
to the chancel, and was partly restored by John Dobson in 1848. It is now
entered from within the keep by a doorway cut through the medieval masonry.
The
Norman Chapel
The ‘garrison room’, which was probably used for
storage, could only be entered from the floor above by the spiral stair. The
present outside door near the foot of the stair is a post-medieval alteration,
dating from the period when the ‘garrison room’ was used as a prison for the
county of Northumberland. The massive single door to the ‘garrison room’ has
a small wicket gate let into it. Within the room, the central pillar has the
remains of a projecting lead pipe. This was part of the medieval plumbing system
by which water could be delivered from the well room.
The
'garrison room', showing the central pillar and vaulted roof.
Interesting external features at this level are the
elaborate chamfered base of the wall of the keep and around the multi-angular
north-west tower, a small doorway high up in the outer face of the west wall
which may have been used to bring in supplies, and the door at the foot of the
central west buttress which housed the garderobe shafts.
First Floor
Before 19th century alterations destroyed the
medieval plan, this floor consisted of one large public room or hall which was
entered up a narrow angled stair from the main spiral. In the thickness of the
north wall was a small private room or solar (now called the Queen’s Chanber)
with a garderobe.
First floor plan.
On the east side of the main room another chamber (B on
plan) now the ticket office, was originally used to observe the comings and
goings on the main entrance stairway. The present opening between the two rooms
is part of the 19th century alterations, which included inserting the
central supporting pillar and arches, widening one of the windows of the main
room and creating another.
Interpretation
room showing archaeological displays.
Note
the pillars and arches added in the 19th century
The
Queen’s Chamber.
Second
Floor
Second floor plan.
The principal room at this level is now called the Great
Hall and was entered directly from the head of the external main stair through
an imposingly decorated arched doorway. The present doorway, which is normally
kept closed, is a restoration by John Dobson in 1848, but earlier engravings
show that Dobson’s replacement was a faithful copy of the heavily worn
original. The vaulted ceiling is a brick arch inserted in 1810-12 to roof the
interior. Traces of the original steeply pitched timber roof can be seen high up
on the north and south walls
Opening off the hall on the south side was an apartment now
called the ‘King’s Chamber’. This has a fireplace and a garderobe. On the
stonework opposite and to the right of the fireplace, graffiti left by the Civil
War garrison can be seen, including the date 164(?)
On the north side of the principal entrance is the well
room. The well which is stone-lined and goes down below the foundations of the
Keep, was cleaned out in the early 1900s and found to be 99 feet deep. On either
side of the well are stone basins set into the wall. Well water poured into
these basins was distributed by lead pipes to different parts of the Keep, even
down to the ‘garrison room’.
The
King’s Chamber, showing the fireplace.
Also on the north side of the Great Hall is a flight of
stairs into the window embrasure. A smaller set of stairs leads off on the left
into a small chamber equipped with its own garderobe. The door to this room,
which is only lit by a small slit window in the north wall, was designed to be
barred from the outside suggesting that it was used as a prison.
On the west wall, opposite the principal entrance is a fire
place, the lintel of which is dated 1599. The fireplace is a replacement of an
earlier one, and was added in 1810-12. To the right of the fireplace an arched
doorway leads to a garderobe.
At this level of the building the main internal stair
divides. The south-east spiral continues up to the roof, with a short passage
leading off to an unfinished and blocked stairway in the west wall. A straight
staircase runs up through the thickness of the east wall and connects to a
second spiral in the north-east angle. Both spiral stairs give access to gallery
encircling the Great Hall in the thickness of the wall. The openings from this
gallery which now look down into the Great Hall would have originally given
access onto the timber roof.
View
from the keep roof, looking east over the Moot Hall to the Tyne Bridge
The Black Gate
The Black
Gate c. 1880, shortly before restoration.
Photograph
in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries.
This was the last part of the castle defences, added
1247-1250, and formed an additional, projecting, gateway or barbican
to the earlier north gate of the castle. The barbican consisted of a
gatehouse flanked by two half-drum towers with a narrow high-walled passage to
the rear, placed at an angle to the castle curtain walls thus making it
vulnerable to fire from the defenders. There was a drawbridge to the front
(west) and another to the rear, both now replaced by wooden footbridges. The
gatehouse passage could be sealed by a portcullis, the grooves for which are
still visible, and a double gate.
The height of the medieval building is unknown; the present
upper floors, roof and false arch over the gateway were added in the early 17th
century when the gatehouse was rebuilt by Alexander Stephenson, a court
favourite of James I who was granted a lease of the whole castle. Later it was
occupied by Patrick Black, a London merchant, and Barbara his wife. From whom
the gatehouse acquired its present name.
In the 17th century houses were built along both
sides of the defended passageway. A public house was opened in part of the Black
Gate, run by John Pickells whose name and the date 1636, can still be seen high
up on the south-west wall.
By the early 19th century the Black Gate had
become a slum tenement, at one time housing 60 people. The Black Gate was leased
to the Society of antiquaries, who extensively restored it between 1883 and
1885, and have occupied the building as a meeting place and library to the
present day.
Plan
of the Black Gate,
without
the modern footbridges, showing the complex of pits
The
Black Gate from the west, showing post-medieval alterations
The Curtain Wall
Only parts of the south and east curtain wall survive above
ground. From the South Postern the curtain runs west to the fragmentary remains
of a tower behind the Bridge Hotel. The tower was partly destroyed when the High
Level Bridge was built.
Remains
of the South Curtain Wall
Sections of the east curtain wall can be seen at the top of
the Dog Leap Stairs. Much of this wall, which may have been built by King John
in the early 13th century, was buried until archaeological
excavations in the 1980s. Severe cracks in the wall are evidence of how unstable
the steep bank above the Side was before construction of the massive retaining
wall (with safety rail) in the 19th century.
There are a number of other publications concerning the
castle, details of which can be obtained from the Warden of the Keep.
Acknowledgements
This text has been prepared by John Nolan and is based on
the previous guide book The Castle of
Newcastle upon Tyne, by Barbara
Harbottle copyright Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1977. The
floor plans and section of the keep, revised for this publication by Jenny
Vaughan, were originally prepared by Brian Jobling and Margaret Finch from those
published by W.H.Knowles in 1926.
Where
to Find Us
Location Plan of
the Castle Keep, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Opening Times
Daily (April to September)
9.30am to 5.30pm
(October to March)
9.30am to 4.30pm
Closed: Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day.
Last entry 30 minutes before closing time.
Admission Charges
Adults
£1.50p
Senior Citizens, Students and those out of work
50p
Children (under 16)
50p
Special
rates for party visits of 12 or more and schools
Entry to the Keep and internally between its
floors is by steep stairs making it unsuitable for those with walking difficulties.
In 2002 it is intended to provide a virtual
tour of the Keep and Castle Garth for disabled people, within the 'Garrison
Room' of the Keep. These tours will be by appointment only and free of
charge.
Further Information
Further information about the castle is available from:-
The Society of
Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Please
contact the Warden, Castle Keep, Castle Garth,
Newcastle upon
Tyne, NE1 1RQ.
Tel. (0191) 2327938 or 2331221.
Research
and Web Page Design Donald
& Mike Biswell
