A latch and door fastening from a house, C16 were found in The Close and donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1884 by L.W. Adamson, Esq. Dated C16th.

There is no archaeological evidence for The Side pre-dating the Norman Castle, but it is an obvious pathway to the bridging point across the Tyne. The Side connected what may have been the earliest harbour and the bridging point to the principal market street. Connected Sandhill with Bigg Market and through to Newgate Street. In The Side there were shops for merchants, drapers and other trades. Bourne describes the street as a very great descent, narrow in width, from the Head of it to Castle Stairs, where it opens out in a spacious breadth into Sandhill. It had shops of merchants, goldsmith's, milliners, upholsters etc on either side. The east side of the street from the upper part to Allhallow Pant (HER 6529) was called Cordiner or Cordwainer Rawe. Gray reports that in the middle of The Side (presumably near Dog Leap Stairs) is an ancient stone house, an appendix to the Castle, which belonged to the Lord Lumleys (see HER 6591). According to Bourne, the tenements in The Side supported the chantries of St Catherine, SS Peter and Paul, St Cuthbert, in the church of St Nicholas. Welford describes a house once belonging to the nuns of St Bartholomew on the west side of The Side. Le Side (1366, 1425), the Syde (1378, 1401), la Side (1393), the Side (1430), the Syd (1587) and The Sydde (1596). Means a broad walk. Name derives from the fact that it was the route by the side of the Castle. Originally named in three parts; Foot, Middle and Head of Side. The Head of Side was formerly very narrow with tall timber-framed buildings with upper storeys nearly touching. Occupied by dealers in cheese, bacon and butter as these perishable products were kept cool in shade produced by tall buildings. Fire in 1900 destroyed what was left of the medieval buildings. The Middle of Side was the broadest part of the street before Dean Street was created. Goldsmiths, milliners, upholsterers and similar trades were prominent here. Foot of Side was originally only right hand side going towards Sandhill. The opposite (eastern) side of the lower part of The Side was known as Flesher Rawe (le Flesherwer Rowe (1377-78), Flesherawe (1425), Flesshewerrawe (1437), Flescher raw (1499), Flesher Rawe (1578), Fleshwerrgate (1361), la Fleswergate (1393)) - probably named after butcher's shops. There was a messuage in The Side in 1430 called Lyleplace, and another called Wodmansland in 1425. Dated C13-15th.

Linked The Close to The Side. The Sandhill was so-called because it was formerly a hill of sand when the tide was out. Reclaimed by gradual piecemeal dumping from C12 to C15. When Sandhill emerged in this process is unknown. The straight east side may not be the original layout. There is documentary evidence to show that the east side existed in some form from at least the C13. le Sandhill (1334, 1342), the Sandehille (1393), the Sandhyll (1478), the Sandhill (1592). There was ground in the Sandhill in 1371 called Myddyngplace and Wyndasplace and in 1550 and 1553 Mryke Lane is documented. There was a tenement in Sandhill called Blacloftes from 1260. By C15 Sandhill was the area of the town for town government and where trade and business was transacted. By C16 and C17 some of the leading Newcastle families lived here - Cock, Jennison, Mitford, Anderson, Davidson etc. Wealthy merchants had grand houses (such as Cosyn's House HER 1571 and Bessie Surtees House HER 5457), buildings "high and stately with rooms large and magnificent, with projecting and picturesque gables and long ranges of windows". Gray describes Sandhill as a market for fish and other commodities including herbs, bread and leather, convenient for merchants who make their living by shipping. Here the river was navigable, there is a long quay of wharfs where ships could unload their cargoes. Boats presumably were beached and unloaded onto the foreshore and in the estuary of the Lort Burn before these jetties and quays were built. There were two cranes at the wharfs for lifting heavy commodities. In the market place there were many shops and stately homes for merchants. The town-court or guildhall (HER 4874) also stood in Sandhill (rebuilt after the Civil War as were many of the neighbouring houses). Under the guildhall was a common weigh house. Above the gate into the guildhall was clocktower. Near the weigh house was the town-house where the clarke of the chamber and chamberlains received revenues for coal, ballast, salt, grindstones etc. Next to the town-house was the Maison Dieu (almshouse) (HER 4871) and next to this the bridge chapel (HER 311). Bourne mentions effigies of King James II (1685-88) which stood in Sandhill - an equestrian statue cast in copper, the horse stood on hind-feet, on a pedestal of white marble and a polished black marble bases surrounded by iron railings. It cost the town 1700 l. After his abdication in 1688, drunken soldiers pulled it down and thre it into the river. It was later retrieved and the metal used to repair the bells at All Saints and make a new bell for St Andrews. Gone by 1736. Part of the east row was rebuilt at various times in the 18th century. Photographs show brick buildings, up to 4 storeys in height with sash windows, standing between the earlier timber-framed houses. These were rebuilt as offices and banks in the late C19. Dated C13-15th.

Welford describes All Hallows Bank (Alhallowe banck in 1586), which linked The Side to Dog Bank, as a waste where warehouses are built, and where William Wylde, bower, Nicholas Blythman, butcher lived. The street was later renamed Butcher Bank as 27 of Newcastle's 55 butchers had shops there. The butchers also had shops in Flesher-Rawe (east side of lower part of The Side). On the north side of Akenside Hill was "Corwenarrawe" in 1296-7. By 1863 there were no butchers left in the street, thus the middle class residents changed the name to Akenside Hill, after Mark Akenside, renowned physician and poet (see HER 6683). There is no early documentary evidence for this street but without it (and the Side), the river crossing would have led nowhere. The Newcastle Journal 30 June 1860 reported that during excavations in Butcher Bank for the foundations of new buildings, architect John Dobson found oak mooring posts and plankings 'which are, no doubt, remains of the original quay of Newcastle'. The wooden remains were found 25 feet below the ground. The 'very curious oak mooring posts' were 'quite black with age. The oak is perfectly sound and of a most beautiful description'. Dated C16th.

There is little information to suggest that there was any substantial growth of suburbs outside the main gates in the later middle ages, but there was at least some development along Sandgate. Sandyate (1425), Sandigate (1430), Sandegate (1564). It is difficult to be sure when Sandgate emerged. Land in Sandgate is mentioned as early as 1336, but as late as 1425 there were tofts runnings from Wallknoll Close to the river, with Sandgate existing only as a right of way across them. The first reference to building on the south street frontage is in 1487. However C15-C16 pottery, walls and cobbled surfaces were found below 14 feet of ballast sand in 1972, suggesting that Sandgate, as it began to develop in the C16 as shown on Speed's map of 1610, represents a re-planning probably on the earlier line. Gray reported that by C17 outside the medieval Sand Gate (HER 1564) there were many houses, all along the waterside, where shipwrights, seamen and keelmen lived. Bourne adds that the name comes from the fact that this area is made up of sand. The narrow lanes (chares) on either side of Sandgate were crowded with houses and pubs. Several thousands of people lived here. John Wesley in 1742 said Sandgate was 'the poorest and most contempible part of the town'. Extra-mural expansion in the later Middle Ages on a substantial scale occurred only in Sandgate. The area was used for the dumping of ballast to a depth of up to 16 feet from 13th to 15th centuries. By the end of 16th century Sandgate was a densely occupied suburb inhabited by those who made their living from the river or associated industries. The suburb was fired by defenders to deny cover to Scottish besiegers. Dated C14-16th.

In the late C14 a deliberate effort was made to improve east-west communications by the building of a second bridge across the Lort Burn. This was the Low Bridge (Netherdenebrig) which, with its approaches, connected Pilgrim Street with the east end of St Nicholas'. In 1394 the Actons gave the town a plot of land 26 feet long and 8 feet wide by the burn for the bridge, and a second plot 246 feet by 8.5 feet to join it to Pilgrim Street. In 1399 John de Auckland bequeathed 20s towards the work on "la Denebrig" next to the church of St Nicholas. According to Gray and Bourne, this is where Hadrian's Wall crossed the burn. Cathedral Stairs lie on the line of this street. The bridge is marked by the flights of steps on either side of Dean Street. The bridge was taken down in 1788. Dated C14th.

Linked The Close (HER 6569) with the upper part of the medieval town and Castle Garth. Since these stairs lead down from the south postern of the castle they must have been an early route, but the first documentary references to "the common steps leading up to the high castle" is 1520. Castle Stairs emerges from C12 gate and was constructed in what may be a cleft cut by storms pouring off the plateau above. Castle Stairs is mentioned in 1412. There was a speculative development of tenement dwellings on the east side of Castle Stairs in around 1745, by William Mills. By 1758, Mills had also acquired a block of buildings called Clogger's Row adjoining the eastern side of the Keep. Buildings were also built west of Castle Stairs, in the late C17, spilling over the curtain wall. They were extended and adapted in 18th century (see HER 6542). O'Brien's 1990 excavation at the foot of Castle Stairs discovered a heap of clay and stones, apparently dating to the Roman period (C2-3). Interpreted as some sort of Roman waterfront. Harbottle suggests that this may have been the abutment for a bridge for a road which led across the sandhill and round the corner to climb the hill to the Roman fort. In 1828 clothes dealers were the most numerous of the businesses located on the stairs. There were ten of them. By 1855 the stairs were a hive of industry with sixteen firms of boot makers, plus J. Henderson & Son, cabinet makers; D. Laird and T. Thornton, both clothes dealers, and C. Waters, rope manufacturer. Today a restored medieval well is visible to the right of the first landing. The remains of small gardens and on the left and right of the Stairs are all that is left of the burgage plots which fronted onto The Close. Castle Stairs was famous for its shoemakers and clogmakers. Dated C15th.

Linked The Close (HER 6569) with the upper part of the medieval town (Bailiff Gate, Castle Garth, The Side and a small key called Javel-Gripp). Known as vennel leading to the heugh (1291-2), "via Hoge" in 1292-4 and 1328, Langstare in 1430 and vennel called the Long Stairs in 1562. At the head of the stairs there is a path to Castle Stairs and the Keep. In 1801 this link comprised "Bankside" and an arched passage called "Sheep-Head Alley". Whilst other stairs housed many businesses, in 1859, Long Stairs only houses a chimney sweep names Hindmarch. Dated C13th.

Linked The Close (HER 6569) with the upper part of the medieval town, Hanover Square and Clavering Place. Tute hyll (1566). Bourne refers to them as Tudhill-Stairs. Other spellings include Tooterhill, Touthill and Towtehill. The proper name was Tout-hill, from the touting or winding of a horn when an enemy was at hand - a watchman's hill. From here a lookout could see any threat from the Gateshead bank to the only part of the wall which was not walled. A chapel stood on Tuthill Stairs, occupied by the Baptists from 1797 to around 1853, ultimately divided into tenements, and a number of houses and businesses - including T. Hunter, a slater, J. Chambers and I Dixon, grocers.

Documentary evidence suggests that the waterfront was not fully developed until the late C13/C14. There is archaeological evidence to support the view that some reclamation was necessary before the two streets, The Close and the Quayside could be laid out in their present form. The Close was a true street with houses on both sides. Le Clos (1291-2, 1308, 1345), le Close (1372), la Cloos (1393), the Cloys (1412), le Close (1464), le Clos (1466 and le Closse (1520). Close Gate was called le Closeyate (1392). Coket Place was in The Close in 1341. On the south side of The Close was Javel Groop (Javelgrippe 1425, le Gaoell-Grype 1505, Jayvelgraye 1566 and Jayle Groupe 1590). Javel derives from "gavell" referring to the gaol in the Castle Keep, gripe or group means drain or channel. There was a plot of waste land in The Close in the angle formed by the east side of Javel Groop, called Ald Javell in 1425. On the north side of The Close was Riddyngs Land (1520) - may mean cleared land. Bower Chare (1483) was off The Close. In The Close were le Erilsin (1405-22), Percy (1425) and Erles Inne (1435). The highway must have emerged between the date of two grants in 1230-40 and 1276-7. The document of 1276 relates to land lying between highway and river "in the Close". Levelling-up was necessary before building on the new street line. Even when completed, The Close led only to open ground at the Skinner Burn, and no medieval suburb seems to have developed outside Close Gate. It was connected to the upper part of the town by Tuthill Stairs, Long Stairs and Castle Stairs. The residents of The Close were wealthy "Gentlemen of Figure" (Bourne) - those of the post medieval period included Sir John Marley, Sir William Blackett, The Earl of Northumberland, Vicar Alvey, Alderman Ambrose Barnes (house here in 1569) and Sir Mark Milbank. The houses were magnificent and grand, with large stately rooms. Opposite Tuthill Stairs was the Mansion House, the official House of the Mayors of Newcastle. In 1620 Robert Bewicke (sheriff 1615-16, mayor 1628 and 1639-40, High Sheriff of Northumberland 1637-38) purchased the manor of The Close. He was a coal owner and merchant. The family became known as 'the Bewickes of Close House'. He died in 1641. In 1689 Thomas Bewick died and left his house in The Close to his son Thomas. In 1710 when the son Thomas died, he left his houses in The Close and Sandhill to his wife Ellinor and daughter. At the Close Gate end of the street there was factory belonging to a Mr Thomlinson, a pot-house belonging to Mr Joseph Blenkinsop and Ralph Harl, and a glas-house belonging to Mr Dagley and Co (see also HER 5069 and 5076). In The Close were le Erilsin (1405-22), Percy (1425) and Erles Inne (1435). Medieval waterfront reclamation has been archaeologically investigated at a number of locations on The Close. Stone revetments were built to retain dumps of stones, cobbles and flood material to create a platform for buildings. On the site of the Mansion House there were a succession of waterfronts between the 13th and 16th centuries. The retaining walls of these stood up to 12.8 feet high and the land recovered varied in width from 17.7 to 37.7 feet. The landfill material including non-local flint and limestone in the 13th century phase. This foreign material was ships' ballast dumped from the 13th century onwards. By the early 1270s the keeper of the Tyne bridge was able to lease land with buildings which had been built on reclaimed land between the highway and the river to Laurence Cutellar. The buildings on the south side of The Close were larger than those on the north, and possessed their own private quays. There was never a public quay here because the narrow arches of the bridge prevented passage by large ships. The Newcastle Courant 8 December 1865 reported that Newcastle Town Council agreed to the widening of The Close. Dated C13th.