Coney Close, Civil War Forts

The area to the north of Coney Close (a route from the west to the Ouseburn established by the mid 17th century, the name is possibly associated with structures at the nearby glasshouses) was known in 1649 as "the old fort". Common Council minutes of 8 January 1649 refer to a petition of William Rosborough, shipwright, desiring that rubbish cast onto his quay from the fort, be taken away. Minutes of 1 June 1649 refer to a lease of a parcel of ground next to the old fort within the Conney Close to Edward Greene, shipwright, for the construction of a windmill (HER 5484). In later leases the site of the windmill is generally termed "the old Forth". Charleton refers to the former existence of a Civil War period fortification at the mouth of the Ouseburn, on the eastern side of the inlet, next to Glasshouse Bridge: "there is an old stone quay on our right… called the Battery Quay. Here during the seige of Newcastle, the Earl of Callendar erected a battery to defend the bridge of boats he had constructed across the Tyne from the South Shore to the Glasshouses". This evidence suggests that there were Civil War period forts on either side of Glasshouse Bridge.