More information : Newcastle Town Moor, centered at NZ 235660 was surveyed at 1:2500
scale by RCHME in 1994 at the request of Newcastle City Council. The
Town Moor is a large area of open pasture fields located half a mile
to the north of the city centre, it represents the City's medieval
common land. The ground was granted to the City as common land by
King John c.1213, the land is owned by the City Council but the
Freemen of the City hold the grazing rights. Through this joint
ownership which requires agreement from both parties before any
change in landuse or development, the Moor has been largely protected
from urbanisation (1a). The preservation of the Moor gives a unique
opportunity to study the land use adjacent to an important medieval
city and also the subsequent changes in its use to the present day.
The boundaries of the Town Moor seem to have remained largely
unchanged, formed in the most part by township boundaries with the
surrounding settlements; Kenton and Gosforth to the north, Fenham to
the west, Elswick to the south and Jesmond on the east.
The Moor is disected into parcels of land by the network of roads
spreading out from the city centre; The large central part has the
name Town Moor, the western half is called Nunsmoor, a name that
seems to originate from past ownership by St Bartholemews Nunnery in
the 15th century, the southern parcel is known as Castle Leazes part
of the original grant of land in the 13th century, smaller pieces
have the names Hunters Moor, Dukes Moor and Little Moor.
The features surveyed within the Town Moor can be split into broad
categories:
Agriculture- medieval broad ridge and furrow and later narrow rig
field systems, old allotment gardens and modern features associated
with the continued use of the moor for cattle grazing, such as water
troughs and pens.
Access and road ways- medieval trackways, turnpikes, Victorian and
later trackways and the development of new roads including the huge
spoilheaps from the construction of the North West Radial motorway.
Mining- medieval and later shaft mines, areas of mining related
subsidence, clay pits, 19th century collieries and 20th century
wartime opencast.
Leisure- golf course, 18th century race course, sites of exhibitions
and fairgrounds, parks and gardens.
Military- barracks, and sites relating to World War Two such as a
prisoner-of-war camp, an isolation hospital, trenches, pill boxes and
stoplines.
Possible prehistoric - possible earthwork settlement and a cropmark
Romano-British enclosure.
Many of these features are recorded as MONARCH records (see
associated monuments). The survey and a detailed archive account is
available from NMRC Swindon, as is a comprehensive coverage of aerial
photographs from 1945-1978. (1-1a) |