More information : NZ 2484 6412. Medieval town of Newcastle.
Newcastle probably originated with the Roman fort of Pons Aelius.This was allegedly superseded by a Saxon walled town called
Monkeceastre (or Monkchester), a name derived from the religious houses it contained, which became the capital of the Northumbrian kings, with a palace at Pandon (1).
There is little evidence for this, however, and localised Saxon
occupation is all that can be substantiated (i.e. by random finds)
(2).
In 1080, a "new castle" was established on or near the site of the
fort, and in 1291 permission to enclose the subsequent town was
granted. The defence scheme, remains of which are extant, consisted of a wall 12ft high, with towers and interval turrets, and an outer ditch. See map diagram and illustrations. (3)
All extant portions of 13th century town walls (see map diagram)
including towers and turrets are Grade 1 and Scheduled. (4)
Recent demolition and clearance have uncovered two stretches of the
Town Wall. (See Fig 1):
1. East of the Corner Tower (NZ 2533 6415). The remains consist of a
stretch of wall 12m long and a minimum of 2.1m wide. Built of ashlar
in courses about 0.25m high it appears to stand almost to full
height. The hitherto unrecorded feature on this piece of wall is the
remnant of a turret. (See Fig 8)
Between Hanover Street and the Close (NZ 2488 6363 to NZ 2486 6365).
stretch of wall some 25.5m long. (See Fig 9). (5)
1. (NZ 2534 6415). As described and planned by Harbottle but remains
are in poor condition.
2. (NZ 2487 6362) to (NZ 2486 6364). As described and planned by
Harbottle but the remains are in poor condition. See photographs.
Published surveys (1:2500) revised. (6)
Scheduled area extended. (7)
Scheduled area extended. (8)
At (NZ 261 638) were found several grave covers. One grave marker
which had been re-used as a grave cover was found north of the Keep
of Newcastle's castle. It was an extremely important discovery as
the cemetery excavations are the only ones in this area where
gravestones have been discovered in situ. Moreover, it showed that
the cemetery must pre-date the castle. A detailed description of the
grave slab is given. A grave cover was found lying directly above
the grave-marker, and had presumably been deposited at the same time.
It was overlain by building debris associated with the construction
of the keep. A detailed description is also given of the grave
cover. (9)
The grid references given in authority (9) appear to be
incorrect. (10) |