History

Newcastle, Northumberland

Contents

• Leaflets from the Newcastle Local Studies Library summarize the history of Newcastle upon Tyne, give a background reading list on the subject, and describe the history of the Town Moor Hoppings.
  
  
• An account of the Great Fire of 1854 which followed an explosion in a chemical warehouse in Gateshead and caused widespread death and destruction in that town and also destroyed large areas of Newcastle, particularly around the narrow lanes (or "chares") leading down to the Quayside. See also: Victims of the 1854 Fire and Explosion in Gateshead - a list of the 225 persons killed or injured in the disaster. Many entries include age, occupation, abode and details of the injury suffered.
  
  
• An account of the Fire at Cross House - 23rd December 1919 in which eleven people lost their lives.
  
  
• An account of the dreadful Explosion of Nitro-Glycerine on Newcastle Town Moor on 17th December 1867, which claimed eight lives including that of the Sheriff, John Mawson.
  
  
• Photographs of the Victoria Tunnel - a 19th century railway tunnel used as a World War Two deep shelter. The Victoria Tunnel is also the subject of Phil Thirkell's excellent website which includes the history of the tunnel, a bibliography and many recent photographs.
  
  
• An account of conditions in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1861 by Henry Young, a census enumerator.
  
  
• Scraping the Bottom Items found in Leazes Park Lake, Newcastle - An exhibition at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
  
  
• LNER Wartime Evacuation Documents N.EVAC 2 and N.EVAC 3 describing the arrangements for evacuating children from Newcastle and Gateshead to rural parts of Northumberland, Co Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland and Westmorland. The second document includes lists of schools with details of their places and times of departure and their destinations.
  
  

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