Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/41

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 29 NEWCASTLE-TJPON-TYNE. Ionic columns, which support the roof. The old ex- change and guildhall, situated in Sandhill, is a spacious stone edifice with a steeple, originally erected in 1658 by Trollope, at a cost of 10,000, and restored in 1809. The guildhall, where the borough sessions and county court are held, occupies the upper story, and is a magnificent court-room 92 feet long by 30 wide, with a <;d oak ceiling and walls elaborately ornamented. The court-room of the Merchants Adventurers, now the chamber of commerce, ia adorned with an ex- quisitely carved mantelpiece and subjects from Scripture history. On the basement story are the exchange and news-rooms, and under the arcade of eight Doric columns which support the eastern front the fish market is held. In the interior of the building are a statue of Charles II., portraits of Charles II., James II., and George III., by Ramsey, and of lords Kldon, Stowell, and Collingwood, and in the mayor's room the " branks," formerly used for the punishment of scolds. The borough gaol in Carlisle-square is a build- ing of modern erection, with a central tower, surrounded by a stone wall 25 feet high, and entered under a massive gateway. The Theatre Royal, situated in Grey-street, is an edifice of stone, with a portico entrance, and pedi- ment supported by six lofty stone pillars. The barracks, which cover a space of 11 acres, are situated in the 1'onteland road, and were built in 1806. The ."New Castle," once so famous in history, ia still an imposing pile, with walls in some places 15 feet thick, and a tower, or keep, 62 feet by 54, and 80 feet high, lately used as the county prison. It has been recently restored, and the Norman chapel, which measures 46 feet by 20, is now used as the Museum of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, rich in local archaeological remains, and Human and British coins. The moot-hall and outer walls of the castle are gone, but sufficient remains to show its once impregnable character. Other public buildings of note are, the corn exchange and music hall, in St. Nicholas-square ; the Royal Arcade, 100 feet by built by Granger; the custom-house near the quay; the Trinity House in Broad Chare ; the new hall of the Literary and Philosophical Society in Westgate-street, erected in 1825, and containing a library of nearly 30,000 volumes; the literary, scientific, and mechanics' institu- tions, and a museum of natural history hi Blackett- street ; Neville Hall in Westgate street, belonging to the College of Medicine, founded in 1851 ; assembly rooms in Westgate street, with a ball room 95 feet long by 36 wide ; two sets of public batha and washhouses ; the Northern Counties' club house in Eldon-square ; aTaranch of the Bank of England in Grey-street ; the savings-bank in the arcado ; besides numerous commercial banks, insurance offices, hotels, benevolent foundations, and markets, amongst which last the corn market is deserving ul i articular notice. Tho grandest structure of New- , however, and perhapa in the N. of England, is the high-level bridge across the Tyne, connecting Gatca- with Newcastle, constructed by Sir Robert Stephen- Bon at the cost of near 235,000. This vast work was i taken with the double object of connecting the railways on the opposite sides of the Tyne, and at the tame time forming a roadway that should avoid tho runs approaches to the Tyne by way of Dean- i. It is 1,375 fuel in length between the triumphal s, the water way being 512 feet, and its width 32 feet, supported by six arches of open iron work, which rest on six massive stone piers 125 feet apart, four rising from the bed of tin: river, and one at each side. It ia in reality it double bridge, consisting of two road- waj .-. i:t above the other. The lower road- way, which is 8G feet above high water, is for foot- -i and carriages , and tho upper bridge, which is 112 l'<-t above tliu river, is a railway carrying tin' 1 ' 1 , lii.es "i' rails, and supported on a Ievol4feet B s by strong hollow pillars of iron, resting on tho arched :iiinu.--l d^wn to tho roadway, ':. ..the vhuli: r by strong mall ^asto form ono iiillexiblo mass. Thu cast aud wrought iron employed in the construction of the bridge is said to have weighed above 5,000 tons. Its enormous mass and great height were requisite to span the deep valleys and to carry the roadway at a sufficient elevation above high-water level as not to impede tho free navigation of the river. A little lower down tho river to the W. is the Tyno Bridge, 300 feet long, sustained by nine arches, and rebuilt in 1781 by Stokoe, at a cost of 30,000, in place of the half wooden ono, which was covered with houses, and was swept away by the river in 1771. It is now falling rapidly into decay, and its entire removal would facilitate the navigation of the river and so benefit tho commerce of the town, wl.ich owes its commercial prosperity chiefly to tho almost inexhaustible mines of coal in the surrounding district. The export of this staple commodity commenced so early as the latter part of the 13th century, but received a check from the stringent measures of Edward I., which almost abolished tho use of coal fires in London ; but in the reign of Charles I. the use of coal was revived, and the coala and culm now exported from this port alone amount to above 3,000,000 tons yearly, valued at a million and a half sterling. The coals are brought down tho river in broad vessels called " keels," and are here reshipped for exportation, the Tyne being thus far navigable by seaborne vessels, and under the care of the corporation of Newcastle as conservators. Tho river side is lined with warehouses, extensive quays, chemical works, potteries, and iron and lead smelting furnaces. The lofty chimneys of these works, varying from 150 to 300 feet high, form a striking feature of the town, and are seen from a great distance. Besides these there are many other branches of manufacture which, though on a lesa extensive scale, are still largely carried on, as oil mills, hardware and cutlery, coarse and fine earthen- ware, metallic works of all kinds, painters' colours, white and red lead, mill for grinding flints used in the manufacture of glass, copperas, alkali or soda, tar, lamp- black, fire bricks, canvas, cordage, refined salt, harness- making, chemical manures, retorts and crucibles, turpentine, corn and paper mills, malting establish- ments, hemp and wire rope making, extensive coach- building yards, machinery of all kinds, locomotive and marine engines, steam-engines, railway carriages, and agricultural implements of all kinds, besides yards for shipbuilding, both in wood and iron. The imports are chiefly wine, spirituous liquors, tobacco, dried fruits from tho S. of Europe, corn, flour, timber, colonial pro- duce, deals, bark, flax, hemp, seeds, tallow and hides from the Baltic. By a singular coincidence tho first manufactory of window or crown glass in Great Britain was established at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, within a few miles of the great monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow-on-the-Tyne, whore, as we learn from Bode, ordinary window glass was first used in Great Britain for architectural purposes. In tho year 1616 Admiral Sir Robert Maunsell erected glass works at the Ouao burn, Newcastle, which were carried on without inter- ruption till nearly the middle of the present century, when they were closed. When the British Associa- tion first held their mooting in this city, there were six largo crown-glass manufactories in operation on tho river Tyne, producing annually upwards of 7,000,000 feet of window glass. These manufactories had ill ceased to exist in 1863, owing chiefly to the introduction of sheet-glass into this country, and the comparatively low price at which plate-glass can be now had, so that in tho birthplace of the art in England there is now not a foot of crown or sheet window glass manu- factured. But a transfer rather than an extinction of tho trade has taken place, for tho manufacture of sheet-glass has of late years been largely increased, and is carried on to a great extent, in tho adjoining district of tho i i MT Wear, where tho quantity produced by Messrs. J Hartley & Co. alone is very nearly equal to tho entire pmduco of tho six extinct crown-glass manufactories on tho river Tyno. Newcastle gives name to a deanery in thuarchdeac. of Northumberland and diur. of Durham, aud contains nine churches, besides numerous chapels