Fountain Inn

Followers of George Fox who visited Tyneside in 1653 set up a meeting house in Gateshead to escape the jurisdiction of Newcastle. His followers met in an old house in Pipewellgate which later became the Fountain public house. From this time is also said to date the existence of steps leading from Pipewellgate to the river at the foot of Bottle Bank, often referred to as the Quaker Steps. The date of the founding of the Fountain Inn is not known, but it was certainly present by 1825. Also in situ at the time of the painting is a three storey warehouse which stood two building plots to the west of the Fountain Inn. The Fountain is thought to have been pulled down in 1905. By the 1950s a single extensive building, used as office furniture works, covered the sites of the inn and warehouse. This was later used by Fife Engineering.