The Castle, Newcastle

Did You Know?

• In 1095, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, rebelled against William Rufus, who sent an army to capture the castle, after which it became crown property.
• During the English Civil War, the Royalist mayor Sir John Marley repaired the keep, and in 1644 Scottish troops besieged Newcastle for three months; the final surrender occurred from the Castle keep on 19 October 1644.
• In 1809, Newcastle Corporation bought the keep, provided a new roof and battlements, and demolished private dwellings within the castle boundaries.

Early history

In the mid-2nd century, the Romans built the first bridge across the River Tyne at the location of modern Newcastle, called Pons Aelius after the family name of Emperor Hadrian. A fort was constructed on a rocky outcrop overlooking the bridge to protect the crossing. Hadrian's Wall crossed from west to east just north of the fort, likely descending the street called the Side near the later Black Gate. During the Anglo-Saxon period, the site became known as Monkchester, suggesting a monastery, and a cemetery was established on the Roman fort site in the late 7th century.

New stone castle

No trace remains of the wooden motte-and-bailey castle built by Robert Curthose in 1080. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, commissioned in 1168 and built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,144. The master mason Maurice, who also built Dover Castle, designed the keep. A triangular stone bailey replaced the wooden one. The Black Gate was added between 1247 and 1250 under Henry III. During the civil wars of King John's reign, the castle was controlled by Philip of Oldcoates. Town walls built in the late 13th century led to neglect of the castle, which was described as ruinous in 1589. Shops and houses were later built on much of the site.

The Black Gate

The Black Gate was added between 1247 and 1250 as a barbican in front of the earlier north gate. It comprised two towers with a passage between them, flanked by vaulted guardrooms. It had drawbridges at the front and rear and a portcullis. The original building likely had a flat roof, but in 1618 James I leased the gatehouse to Alexander Stephenson, who rebuilt the upper floors.

Stephenson let it to tenants, including merchant Patrick Black, who gave the gate its name. Houses were built along the passageway, and part became a public house. By the early 19th century, it was a slum tenement housing up to sixty people. The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne leased it in the 1880s, restoring it between 1883 and 1885, adding the top floor and pitched roof.

The Society held a museum and meetings there; the Bagpipe Museum moved to Morpeth in 1987. The drawbridges have been replaced by wooden footbridges.

Current building

The Keep is a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument, roughly square, measuring 62 ft by 56 ft and 81 ft tall. The entrance leads via stairs to the second floor and the Great Hall, which is 30 ft by 24 ft. The Black Gate was approached by a drawbridge across a moat, now replaced by a wooden bridge; the original portcullis recesses remain. The keep is owned by Newcastle City Council and managed by the Heart of the City Partnership. It is open to visitors, and the East Coast Main Line runs through the grounds. The battlements offer views of the River Tyne quayside, the cathedral, and Newcastle station. The castle is reputedly haunted and has been featured on Most Haunted. The Keep and Black Gate were refurbished by the Heart of the City partnership and reopened on 21 March 2015 as Newcastle Castle, with an external lift, education centre, gift shop, and audio-visual installations.