The Side, Dog Leap Stairs

HER Number

9916

District

Newcastle

Site Name

The Side, Dog Leap Stairs

Place

Newcastle

Map Sheet

NZ26SE

Class

Transport

Site Type: Broad

Pedestrian Transport Site

Site Type: Specific

Steps

General Period

POST MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Hanoverian 1714 to 1837

Form of Evidence

Structure

Description

Dog Leap Stair, also known as ‘Dog Loup’ stair is an historic stone stair leading from Castle Garth to Side. The name refers to ‘a narrow slip of ground between houses’. In 1772 Baron Eldon, later Lord Chancellor of England, eloped with Bessie Surtees. The couple made their escape on horseback up Dog Leap Stair. Dog Leap Stair is mentioned in the 1978 song ‘Down to the Waterline’ by Dire Straits. LOCAL LIST

Easting

425070

Northing

563930

Grid Reference

NZ425070563930

Sources

Grace McCombie, 1980, Did the Dog Leap to get to the Side? In Archaeological Newsbulletin of Northumberland Westmorland and Cumberland, Series 2, No. 10, April 1980, pp 12-3; Newcastle City Council, 2006, Local List of Buildings, Structures, Parks, Gardens and Open Spaces of Special Local Architectural or Historic Interest Supplementary Planning Document; Jack and John Leslie, 2001, Bygone West Quayside and the Chares; Malcolm L Scaife, 1974, Newcastle Old and New; Grace McCombie, 2009, Newcastle and Gateshead - Pevsner Architectural Guide, p. 118