Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/40

Rh NEWCASTLE-UPON-T 5TNE. 28 NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. and Carlisle railways, also a station in the Manors for the North Shields section of the North-Eastern lino of railway, and several goods stations in other parts of the town. Constant communication is likewise main- tained with all the chief ports of Great Britain, and many places on the continent of Europe, America, and the British colonies, ty means of powerful steam vessels and regular traders engaged in the shipping trade, which has more than quadrupled in the last half century. The port, which is formed by the Tyne, is capable of admitting seaborne vessels of 400 tons, and has North Shields and Blythnook as its siibports. The town of Newcastle is of great antiquity, and occupies a commanding position on the northern bank of the river Tyne, about 9 miles distant from the sea at Tynemouth, where the river discharges itself into the German Ocean. Opposite to it is Gateshead, which may be considered a subport of Newcastle, situated on the southern bank of the Tyne, and in the adjoining county of Durham. Newcastle appears to have derived its origin from Pans Mlii, the second station from the eastern extremity of the Eoman wall built by the Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 120. In 1810, while digging the foundations of the county court-house, numerous Roman remains were met with, consisting of foundations of walls, two altars, a well, and a large quantity of pottery. By the Saxons it was called Monkeceastre, from the number and magnificence of the religious houses and monastic institutions it contained, and from the strength of its position became the capital of the Northumbrian kings, who had a palace at Pandon. As a fortified town it was a place of great strength, being surrounded by a massive stone wall 2 miles in circuit, 8 feet thick, and 1 2 high, with a deep fosse 66 feet broad, and lofty towers flanking the gates, several of which still remain, as also part of the wall and fosse. In 876 it was taken by the Danes under one of their fiercest chieftains, Halfden, who cruelly burnt the town with its churches and monasteries, putting to death many of the monks and nuns. Two years after the Norman conquest it was taken by Edgar Atheling, and Malcolm, King of Scot- land, but was retaken by William the Conqueror, whose son, Bobert Curthose, built the "New Castle" in 1080 on the site of the old citadel, from which castle the town derived its present name. In the rebellion of Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, against "William Bufus, this fortress was taken by the king, and in the reign of Stephen it was held for a short time by the Scots. In the succeeding reigns of Henry II. and John it was much improved, and subsequently figures frequently in Border history as the rendezvous of the English troops preparing for the invasion of the neighbouring kingdom of Scotland. Under several of the early Anglo-Norman kings it was used as a mint town. In the reign of Edward I. John Baliol did homage in the " New Castle " for his crown of Scotland, and in the same reign the town was rebuilt and walled round. In 1299 it was assaulted by Wallace, and was attacked, but without success, by David Bruce. In the reign of Charles I. it was surprised by the Scottish Covenanters under General Leslie, at which period its population must have been very considerable, as no fewer than 5,000 persons are said to have died here of the plague in 1636. During the civil war between the king and the parliament it changed hands several times, but was finally stormed by the Scots under the Earl of Leven, in October, 1644, while marching to join the parliamen- tarians in the S. In 1646 King Charles, having sur- rendered to the Scottish army, was brought by them from Newark and retained hero till 1647, when he was transferred by the parliamentary commissioners to London. The town was visited by the plague in 1717, and corn riots took place here in 1740. In the Scottish rebellion of 1745 the royal troops, under General AVaJe, occupied the town previous to their advance into Scot- land against the Pretender. It sustained considerable damage from the floods which inundated the banks of the Tyno in 1771 and IMo. Itisa borough by prescrip- tion, having been first chartered by Henry II., but the irst mayor was not chosen till 1251. "Under the Muni- cipal Keform Act of 1835 the old corporation was dissolved, and the town divided into eight instead of enjoys an allowance of 2,000, 14 aldermen, and 42 town councillors, with the style of " mayor and burgesses of Recorder is appointed by the crown, but the sheriff, who is also returning officer, the town clerk, treasurer, and other officers, are chosen by the town council. In 1861 it contained 13,979 inhabited houses, with an acreage of 5,730, and a revenue of about 65,000. The population in 1851 was 87,784, which in 1861 had increased to 109,108. It has returned two members to parliament since the 27th of Edward III., and under the Reform Act includes, besides the old borough, the townships of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, and Westgate, the number of electors being about 6,000. The town is well paved and lighted with gas, and abundantly supplied with pure water from the Whittle Dean water-works. The old part of the town skirts the river bank, along which stretches an extensive and convenient quay, 1,620 feet long. This part of the town is about 2 miles in length, and was until very recently solely composed of very narrow, crooked streets of old houses, locally called "chares," which wound in curves up the precipitous slopes of the cliffs on which the upper or modern town is built, at an elevation of 200 feet above the level of the river below. Within the last quarter of a century, how- ever, it has undergone a complete change, and although, still inhabited by the poorer classes of the population, many now streets have been opened, and the old ones widened, for which purpose all the gates of the old wall, with the greater part of the towers, as well as many curious old buildings, have been swept away. In the upper and more modern parts of the town are spacious streets and squares, as Clayton, Grainger, Gay, Hood, Market, Nelson, and Shakspeare streets, and Eldon and Charlotte squares, &c., with regular ranges of buildings of an order far superior to those of most pro- vincial towns. The houses of the upper town being built of a variety of freestone, present a massive and substantial appearance, giving ample scope for archi- tectural adornment ; while in the lower town most of the houses are very ancient, and many of them in the antique gable-fronted style of the reign of Elizabeth. The principal extension of the town has been on the northern side, where the corporation have built a new market-house, and where many new streets of good shops have recently sprung up, connecting the town with the modern suburb of Brandling village in Jesmond township. To the W. of the town lies the new suburb of Eye Hill, in the townships of Westgate and Elswick ; and to the E., near the river, are extensive warehouses, factories, and other works connected with the commerce and manufactures of Newcastle. At the top of Grey- streot stands the statue of Earl Grey, surmounting a lofty Ionic column, erected in 1836 to commemorate the passing of the Eeform Act. Few provincial towns have a greater variety of public and ecclesiastical edifices. The Moot Hall, or county court-house, is a stone build- ing, erected in 1810 from designs by Stokoe, at a cost of 52,000. It is situated on 'an eminence within the castle precincts, which belong to the county, and mea- sures 144 feet by 72, with a portico of six Doric columns 28 feet high on the S. front, and a similar portico of four columns on the N. front. The assizes and sessions for the county of Northumberland are held in the grand hall, where most of the county business is transacted, and the ground floor is used as a prison for the temporary confinement of county prisoners preparatory to their removal to the county gaol. The Central Exchange in Grey-street, built by Granger, presents externally the appearance of a triangular pile of Grecian building, ornamented at each corner by a dome, and fronting respectively Grey-street, Grainger-street, and Market- street, from all of whieb it may be entered ; but inter- nally it is composed of two semi-circles about 150 feet by 100, lit by a glass dome, and divided by tvelve
 * wenty-four wards. It is governed by a mayor, who
 * he town and county of Newcastlc-on-Tyne." The