Newcastle town wall, West Gate

HER Number:
1528

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle town wall, West Gate

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SW

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:
Town Defences

Site Type: Specific:
Town Wall

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C13

Form of Evidence:
Demolished Building

Description:
After New Gate, the West Gate was the largest gateway into the town, providing access on the main route from the west. Two published views, both from the outside, hint at a great tower behind a barbican which terminated in square turrets. The vaulted passage appears to be open in the centre, perhaps the site of the turning bridge referred to in 1574, and the whole is quite similar to Tynemouth gatehouse. It was presumably built in the 13th century, with the barbican probably a later addition, perhaps by Roger Thornton? Used as a prison in the 16th and 17th centuries, and as a magazine. In the 18th century it was a meeting hall for the House Carpenters Company. Temporarily blocked up in 1745; a footway was opened on the north side of the gateway in 1782; the whole gate was demolished in 1811/12.

Easting:
2443

Northing:
6405

Grid Reference:
NZ24436405

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1528 >> J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, 10-11 G.B. Richardson, 19th century, The Walls of Newcastle, 129-133 -Newcastle University Library Unpublished MS T.M. Richardson, 1880, Memorials of Old Newcastle-upon-Tyne, pl. xiii S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2,XVIII, 13 M.A. Richardson, 1841, Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, I, 279 M.A. Richardson, 1843, Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, III, 49, 112