Swalwell Paper Mill is shown on 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. In 1883 a lease was issued to William Grace and Co. of Scotswood, paper-makers, for a new paper mill on part of the site of Swalwell Ironworks (HER 5979). The arrangement was formalised in 1891. Ridley & Co kept the south side of the ironworks site, which included the rolling mill and forge, for a steel and engineering works. Grace's site included the Grand Warehouse, two cementation furnaces and everything west and north of the Grand Warehouse, all of which were demolished. William Grace & Co probably brought their Northumberland Paper Mill into production in 1887 and by 1894 it was making manillas, rope and browns, glazed and unglazed casings and tips. Closed by end of 1908 - remaining parts of the Grand Warehouse were described as ruinous following WWII.

Swalwell Colliery is shown on 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. Closed August 1940. There were two pits, Edith Pit and Henry Pit. Owners were George R. Ramsay and later Dunston Garesfield Collieries Ltd.

Swalwell Brewery is named on 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map. Swalwell Brewery was founded in 1765 by Matthew Taylor, who lived in Whickham Hermitage (HER 6899). The Taylors were a prosperous family who had lived in Swalwell since at least 1576. In 1747 Matthew and John Taylor paid £2 for a wherry landing at Swalwell. They conveyed coal and other materials from Swalwell to the River Tyne. Swalwell Brewery soon became the most important brewing establishment in County Durham.

Lime kiln shown on the 1718 survey of Sir Ambrose Crowley's ironworks at Swalwell.

In 1707 Sir Ambrose Crowley acquired a small ironworks (a slitting mill and hoop-rolling mill) in Swalwell, where he subsequently developed a large complex of workshops and associated facilities. A half forge was under construction in June 1711. By June 30th 1711 Crowley was intending to construct a new warehouse. The Grand Warehouse was constructed c.1713. The warehouse had a basement and internal dock and waggonway. On July 19th 1711 he decided to build the steel furnaces. His Swalwell enterprise was primarily a finishing plant for manufacture of nails, anchors, saltpans and hoes and as such did not have the historic significance of Winlaton Ironworks (HER 1006). A detailed annotated book map was drawn of the Winlaton Mill and Swalwell works in 1718 for Sir Ambrose Crowley's son, John. It is remarkably accurate. Features listed at the Swalwell works include - dams and floodgates, blade mill, corn mill, steel furnaces, anvil shop, file cutters and forgers shop, warehouse, office, hardening shop, rod-iron warehouse, bar-iron warehouse, slitting mill, bellows etc. The earliest record of chain-making (a product which required a special technique) appears to be at the time of Gabriel Jars' ("Voyages metallurgiques", I, p 219) visit in 1765, when the Swalwell forge was already making the heavy anchor chains for which the firm became famous. Some of these chains were made from links up to 3 feet in diameter and weighing 250 lb each. In 1728 there were 157 workers at Swalwell. The Swalwell works used water power (River Derwent) to drive the bellows, hammers and rollers. Pig iron was converted into bar iron. Iron plates were made - possibly for salt pans. A limited amount of foundry work took place at Swalwell - pig and scrap iron melted in reverberatory furnaces to produce smoothing irons, door-knockers, wheel hubs, hammers and the cast-iron cannon which the firm starting making in the mid 18th century. The production of steel was a Crowley specialism. By the mid 18th century there were two steel furnaces at Swalwell. The end came for the Swalwell factory when it could not offer effective resistance to their new competitors - Hawks of Gateshead. The Swalwell works were bought, possibly during the 1850s by a Mr Laycock. There was major reconstruction of the works between 1858-1862 including the gutting of the Grand Warehouse and its conversion into a crucible steelworks and machine shop. Later bought by Messrs Ridley & Co, who were still carrying out light engineering on the site at the end of C19. Description of the Ridley works in 1890 - 'Ridley's have held for seven years; steel foundries, forges for iron and steel, tilting hammers and machine shops; producing crucible steel castings, tool steel, steel and iron forgings, and general smithwork. Works now cover about 4 acres, about to be expanded'. Laycock unfortunately cast all of the firm's records into the furnace. The Grand Warehouse was in a ruinous state by the 1940s and has been surrounded by material which is now covering it. Pevsner - the site was, in the C18, supposed the greatest manufactory of its kind in Europe. Only fragments survive, overlain with red brick Victorian factory buildings, but the mill race can be traced back through an eccentric garden to a substantial weir with large sluice. Crowley moved part of his works here in 1691.

Ralph Reed, the owner of two farms in Chirton, sold his estate to John Clarke, an agent of the earl of Northumberland. He built a new house in the 1670s at Chirton on the west side of Silk's Lane, with materials dismantled from Warkworth Castle. The house was passed on to the Duke of Argyll in 1699 and then to Robert Lawson of Cramlington and eventually by terms of a will to Adam Cardonnel, who changed his name to Cardonnel-Lawson. Upon the opening of Burdon Main Colliery in 1811, he pulled down the hall and moved to his other estate in Cramlington. Craster says that in 1907, the gate posts and some of the outbuildings remained. A century earlier, Warburton described the house as "built of fine freestone and brick, having a good garden on the south front".

Deposited building plans dated 12th March 1897 show the planned construction of Cooper's Auction Yard, a depot for horses, carriages, cycles and auto-cars. This was, in effect, an early multi-storey car park with an oval-shaped auction arena with central galleried space, and stabling for horses on ground and first floors and carriage, cycle and car parking on the second floor where there was also a showroom. Access between floors was by ramps and a carriage lift. The building is of three storeys in red-brown brick. Strange shape of the building was dictated by the available space on the site when it was designed. The office façade and public entrance to the building is ornate, with projecting string courses of yellow sandstone and first and second level and sandstone mouldings. "Cooper's Motor Mart" is picked out in white glazed brick or tile at the end of the building which once housed the vehicle lift added in 1925. McCombie - horse auction mart 1896 by T. Dawson, remodelling by Percy L. Browne & Son with garage, car lift and showrooms 1925-6. In 2008-9 converted to offices by Ryder.
The building was listed Grade II in 2005 with the following description:
'Auction house and multi-storey horse, carriage, cycle and motor car repository 1897 by J Dawson of Gateshead for James Cooper of Cooper's Auction House. Steel framed with red brick set in English bond with dressings of yellow sandstone and rendered concrete. Welsh slate covering a hipped roof to the south east and a gabled roof to the north west; decorated tiles to ridge and hip. Three chimney stacks. Large skylights and ventilators pierce the roofs. PLAN: irregular in shape, determined by the shape of the site. There is an oval shaped horse run placed centrally on ground floor with open, part-galleried floors above giving views to roof with public and service rooms ranged peripherally around the central ground floor space. EXTERIOR Westgate Road elevation: three storeys 15 bays defined by piers alternating with recessed panels and denticulated cornice above. Dressings and mouldings of yellow sandstone, ground floor mostly rendered. Façade contains 3 distinct sections; 3 bays at north west end containing offices, shops and showroom. Central bay containing main entrance with shop fronts to either side. 5 blocked windows, 2 to outer bays and one in slimmer central bay, above. All with cambered arches, keystones and mouldings. 2 sets of 4 second floor 4 arched window openings with keystones and hood moulds in outer bays with hung sashes, upper divided by glazing bars into a 3 on 3 pattern; central bay has 2 cambered openings with keystones and sash windows. Piers extend above second storey to form pedestals, within which are 2 gables and linking parapet; single moulded oculus to each gable. Projecting string courses at first and second floor level. 4 bays at south east end form service section with dressings faced in render. Paired window openings with cambered arches and sill bands to 3 bays at ground and first floor and 3 pairs of cambered window openings to second floor all with hung sashes divided vertically to form 2 panes per sash. Plain end bay. Housing for original carriage lift and later vehicle lift rise above, later example bears 'Cooper's 'Motor Mart' in white glazed brick or tile. Central section of 8 bays with shop fronts to ground floor and original carriage entrance to right. Recessed panels extend over upper floors with large paired ventilation openings and decorative clay grilles at first floor level. North East elevation: Plain, partially rendered and partially covered with C20 red brick; small gabled 2 storeyed annexe with attic over and brick cornice above; rear of building faced in glazed buff brick, rows of evenly spaced windows pierce ground and first floor with ventilation openings to latter. Single windows on each of 3 floors on rear of main building. Large cambered opening to right. INTERIOR Small basement. Internal walls mostly of brick painted white, floors of late 19th century scored asphalt, that to ground floor with concrete covering. Upper floors supported on framework of cast iron stanchions and rolled steel joists. Ceilings of painted tongued and grooved timber. Ground floor: carriage and entrance passage with shop and general office either side, opens into central well containing auction room with horse run. Former stables, converted into additional shops and original horse run wall pierced with numerous new openings. Horse ramp with wrought iron gate to upper floors, asphalt with timber tracks laid in channels and batons laid across at interval. Projecting annexe to rear originally filled with stall and loose boxes now removed but numerous tethering rings remain in place. Some cast-iron columns in place supporting steel beams with timber ceiling over; gas light fittings. First floor: central well with gallery to left. Position of former stalls indicated by channelled drainage grooves, larger grooves confirming former location of individual stalls and loose boxes, numerous tethering rings and ventilation openings covered by cast iron sliding grills. Some loosebox fittings such as hay and straw storage also visible. 2 stables along south west wall, with similar detail; stepped door opens onto gallery with wooden benches and cast iron railings. Windows pierce the wall either side of door with cornice of dentils above which continue around central well at second floor level. Showroom and private office at north east end of first floor with higher quality fittings including doors with moulded architraves, plaster cornices and oriel window, now cupboard. Ramp to second floor, same as that described above. Second floor: display area for carriages, bicycles and early motor cars, viewing area around central well to auction room below. Barrier around central well of painted wooden boards with a rolled banister triangulated middle and bottom stanchions and similarly bevelled piers. Vehicle lift situated at south east end with plant room above accessed by steel staircase and ladder. 2 original skylights, of louvered timber with glass lights. Roof structure: curved ridge supported by asymmetrical braced and riveted steel trusses carried on limestone blocks set into walls. HISTORY:James Cooper originally set up as a horse trader in 1878 at the Crown and Thistle Inn in Groat Market, Newcastle upon Tyne. The business had grown by 1896 requiring the construction of large purpose-built premises to hold the weekly auctions. The Westgate Road site was chosen and the architect was J Dawson of Gateshead; his initial plans dated March 1897 describe the new proposed building as a depot for 'horses, carriages, cycles and auto-cars'. After these were modified to provide extra stabling on the first floor, the new building was constructed and officially opened on the 16th October 1897. At this time there was accommodation on the ground floor for 150 horses and 20 dogs in addition to shops, offices, harness rooms and a caretaker's room with a lift to the top floor for carriages. The first floor contained a 'ladies gallery' furnished with more comfortable seats and the second floor was used mainly as a repository for carriages and a sales point for bicycles. The original plans indicate that this floor was also to be used for the storage of motor cars. In 1925 the layout of the south east end of the building was modified by the architects Percey L Browne & Son of Newcastle who later became renowned for large art deco projects across the north. Original plans of 1925 suggest quite substantial modifications were planned to both the interior and exterior of the building but many of these were abandoned. Instead, a larger and more powerful lift was installed in the south east section, presumably for the transportation of motor cars, and new shop fronts were inserted to the middle section of the exterior. Also the south east entrance was remodelled to provide a grand main entrance for the sale of motor cars. The increasing importance of motor cars to the business at this time is also indicated by the installation of a garage on the second floor and petrol tanks on the ground floor. Cooper's moved out of the building in 1977 after which it was used by Hertz for vehicle storage. Some minor alterations to the building have occurred since 1928 including the removal of the stalls in 1954, the insertion of a ground floor turntable for cars in the 1950's and the replacement of shop fittings with Hertz fittings, now removed, in the 1980's. SOURCES: Former Hertz Building, Westgate Road Newcastle upon Tyne: Archaeological Assessment and Buildings Survey 2005 Tyne & Wear Museums, Archaeology Department. Cooper's Auction Yard, Westgate Road Newcastle upon Tyne, 2005 English Heritage (unpublished draft).
Of special architectural interest as a fine and virtually complete example of a purpose built multi-storey repository for horses, carriages, cycles and early motor cars of 1897. A rare survival and apparently unparalleled nationally, it is of particular interest as a building which anticipates the coming age of motor transport. The recent excavation of archaeological evaluation trenches within the building revealed the presence of the remains of Hadrian's Wall designated as a World Heritage Site.'

Corbridge's map of 1723 and Bourne's map of 1736 show this area between the medieval town walls, between Carliol and Austin Towers, and Pilgrim Street, as the "Carling Croft". It had actually been known as the Carliol Croft from at least the sixteenth century. On Hutton's map of 1770 the area is once again referred to as "Carliol Croft". By the end of the eighteenth century it was the largest open space remaining within the town walls, said to be "a very agreeable Walk, generally frequented in a Summer's Evening by the Gentry of this part of the Town" (Bourne, 1736, 81). It was formerly the property of the Carliols, then of John Rogers Esq. Dated C16th.

Art Gallery. 1903-4 by Cackett and Burns Dick. Sandstone ashlar, stone dome to tower cupola. Free Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements. The gift of wine merchant Alexander Laing to the City of Newcastle to celebrate 50 years in business. Built as an addition to the Central Library of 1884, which was demolished in 1968-9. Neo-Baroque style with art nouveau elements. Art nouveau wrought-iron gates on east entrance on Higham Place. The corner with bridge street is marked by a tower with open octagonal lantern and ball-finialled dome. Opulent interior with marble and Frosterley marble floors. McCombie - the site was bought for the art gallery, despite objections that Higham Place was only a minor street. The creation of John Dobson Street in 1970 (designed by DT Bradshaw, City Engineer) exacerbated the poor approach to the gallery. In 2001 part of New Bridge Street was pedestrianized. The Laing was given a glass-bowed south-facing entrance by City Design. On the street in front, Thomas Heatherwick's Blue Carpet was commissioned (HER 10980). The Laing Art Gallery is neo-Baroque with Art Nouveau elements. It has a corner tower with high relief frieze, open octagonal lantern and stone dome. Inside, a splendid marble stair with much Frosterley marble and [reinstated] stained glass by J. Edgar Mitchell. In the galleries, murals in the lunettes depicting scenes from the history of Newcastle by artists Byron Eric Dawson, Louisa Hodgson, RJS Bertram, AK Lawrence, Thomas W Pattison, James Walker Tucker, JH Willis and Ralph Bullock. The demolition of the 1880-4 Free Library exposed the blank brick west wall of the Laing Gallery.
The original entrance has been superseded by an addition to the south elevation in the 1990s. A foundation stone is inscribed as being laid by pupils of Walker Dene School in 1995.

Shown as "Free Library" on Ordnance Survey first edition 25" to 1 mile series and as "Central Library" on the fifth edition of 1952. 1880-4 by A.M. Fowler in a classical style. The medieval Carliol Tower (HER 1551) had been demolished in 1881 to make way for the library. The library held 150,000 volumes and had a special gallery purpose-built for the Bewick Collection of books, original wood blocks, prints and drawings by Thomas Bewick (1753-1828). The old library was demolished in 1967 along with the adjacent Mechanics Institute, to make way for John Dobson Street. This resulted in the lowering of New Bridge Street. The demolition of the old library exposed the blank west wall of the Laing Art Gallery. The present Central Library was built in 1966. Stone carvings, door surrounds etc have been salvaged from the old library, town hall and YMCA in Blackett Street and were reset into the exterior retaining wall on Prudhoe Chare in 1976. The architectural features include seven high-relief heads of gods and goddesses (Neptune in the centre, possibly the River God Tyne and Bacchus) and Bewick, Stephenson and Collingwood on tapered keystones, two architectural scrolls surmounted by lions' heads, a door lintel, two panels containing three cartouches with high-relief 'YMCA' and a semi-circular panel with '1881' in the middle of foliate carving.