Newcastle town wall, New Gate

HER Number:
1543

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle town wall, New 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:
New Gate, the largest of the gates on the wall, gave access from the town to the north and north-west. It consisted of a three storey tower flat on the back, and with projecting octagonal corner towers on the front. Beneath was a rib- vaulted passage, flanked by guardrooms and protected by a portcullis. A barbican was added on the north side (as also at the West Gate), probably in the 14th century. Edward III's arms (England quartered with France, fleur de lis semee) on the front of the barbican, suggest that this structure was added after 1340, though others have quoted a document of 1390, referring to "novam portam", as indicating a later date. From 1399, when Newcastle became a county of itself, until 1822 the gate was used as a gaol. It was finally demolished in 1823.

Easting:
2459

Northing:
6445

Grid Reference:
NZ24596445

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1543 >> J. Brand, 1789, History of Newcastle, I, 13-14 M.A. Richardson, 1841, Local Historian's Table Book, Historical Division, I, 51, 402; II, 54, 161; III, 125, 181, 270-4; V, 276 G.B. Richardson, 19th century, The Walls of Newcastle, 155, 159, 163, 167-9 , Newcastle University Library Unpublished MS T.M. Richardson, 1880, Memorials of Old Newcastle-upon-Tyne, pls. iii, xxxiii, xxxv, xxxviii, xl S. Holmes, 1896, The Town Walls of Newcastle upon Tyne, Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XVIII, 15-16; Nigel Green, 2009, Tough Times & Grisly Crimes, page 16