Newcastle, Sandgate, The Swirle

HER Number:
10474

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle, Sandgate, The Swirle

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Transport

Site Type: Broad:
Road

Site Type: Specific:
Alley

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
Small lane between Sandgate and the Quayside. Shown on Hutton's map of 1770 as 'Swerle'. The street name was derived from the stream, the word 'swirle' meaning the meandering of a stream of water. The 66th boundary stone of the borough of Newcastle stood at the north-west corner of the Swirle. Bourne records that the street was sometimes known as the Squirrel. There was a fine block of old buildings in the Swirle with Queen Anne gables, tall chimney stacks and dormer windows. One of them was the Half Moon Tavern.

Easting:
2576

Northing:
6412

Grid Reference:
NZ25766412

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
W. Gray, 1649, Chorographia; H. Bourne, 1736, The History of Newcastle upon Tyne, p 154; B. Harbottle and P. Clack, 1976, Newcastle upon Tyne - Archaeology and Development in D.W. Harding (ed), 1976, Archaeology in the North; W. Collard and M. Ross, 1842, Architectural and Picturesque Views in Newcastle upon Tyne; J. and J. Leslie, 2002, Bygone Quayside and the Chares; Charles Hutton, 1770, A Plan of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead; W.H. Knowles and J.R. Boyle, 1890, Vestiges of old Newcastle and Gateshead, pp 86-90