Ralph Gardner reported that ships were being built on the south side of the river in the C17. In 1705 Thomas Reed leased land for two smith's shops and a wet dock near Rock Staith on the South Shore for ship building, possibly keels.

The Wesleyans had a meeting house in High Street (behind where Woolworths now stands). The Wesleyan chapel was built in 1815 to accommodate 670 people, with gardens in front. Since its desertion it was used as a music hall and theatre. It was burnt out twice. On one occasion 14 lives were lost.

In 1786 a Presbyterian Meeting House in Half Moon Lane or Bailey Chare was opened.

This was the only major coaching inn in Gateshead. It had room for 150 horses.

The account books of the church warden of St. Mary, contain references to events in Gateshead during the C17 and 18th century, including the provision of a ducking stool, presumably associated with the Gateshead witch-hunt of 1649 (see also HER 5604).

The account books of the church warden of St. Mary, contain references to events in Gateshead during the C17 and 18th century, including the provision of a whipping post, presumably associated with the Gateshead witch-hunt of 1649 (see also HER 5604).

A number of fisheries in the Tyne, between the Team and Friars Goose, are referred to in the 1183 Boldon Book (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) and were an important cause of dissension between the Bishop and the town of Newcastle over rights to the river. These were salmon yares, which were dams and traps set for the fish as they came up river. In C14 the fisheries are first named as "Greneyare", "Maleyare" (near Redheugh), "Kirkyare" (opposite St Mary's Church), "Helpeyare" (off Gateshead Park) and "Turnwater" (off Friar's Goose). In 1322 an inquiry was held after three of the bishop's fisheries on the Tyne had been destroyed. A further inquiry in 1336 stated that the bishop had fisheries on the south side of the Tyne and the fishermen of Pipewellgate were free to sell their fish as they pleased, but recently they had their catch taken by force to Newcastle and if they attempted to sell it elsewhere they were heavily fined. The King directed that the liberties of the see of Durham should be respected, but a further inquiry was necessary nine years later and interference in fishing and shipping on the south side of the Tyne continued. In 1393, Richard II confirmed the rights of the see of Durham over its rights of navigation, mooring and unloading on the south side of the river but, in 1447, the King granted conservatorship of the whole of the Tyne to the mayor and burgesses of Newcastle effectively giving the Corporation control of all riverine trade. By 1505 the bishop's bailiff in Gateshead was reporting that the revenues of three fisheries, "Gayreyare", "Feuleryare" and "Heleryar" were in decline. Dated C12th.

The Boldon Book of 1183 (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) describes Gateshead as having mills, fisheries and bakehouses, with surrounding arable land. Cereals were obviously brought into Gateshead from the surrounding countryside and the town was, like Durham and Darlington, a milling and baking centre for the bishopric. The specific locations of the bakehouses are not known. Dated C12th.

The Boldon Book of 1183 (a survey of land belonging to the Bishop of Durham, Hugh du Puiset) describes Gateshead as having mills, fisheries and bakehouses, with surrounding arable land. Cereals were obviously brought into Gateshead from the surrounding countryside and the town was, like Durham and Darlington, a milling and baking centre for the bishopric. The specific locations of the mills are not known. Manders states that they may have been windmills, which were spreading through England by the late C12, but were more likely to be watermills, either on the Team or on one of the many streams, such as the Busyburn, which have long since disappeared. Dated C12th.

By 1246 it is known that a market was being held because the mayor of Newcastle sued the Bishop of Durham over whether he should permit a market to be held on the same day as in Newcastle. Boyle quotes from court records of 1336 relating to a dispute between the Bishop of Durham and the Burgesses of Newcastle that Gateshead borough held a market two days a week "even as far as the middle of the bridge". During the post medieval period a market was held twice a week from the market cross, which lay between tollbooth and pant, to the blue stone on the Tyne bridge. After 1771 (when a great part of the medieval bridge was destroyed by a flood), the market extended only to the bridge gate. Witnesses in a court case of 1577 between Richard Natrass and the town of Newcastle said that "wheat, bigg and cattle… were on sale about a cross between the tollbooth and the pant; and beans, pease and oatmeal and other goods and merchandice sold at Brige-yate". Parliamentary commissioners in 1647 however noted that no fairs or markets were being held at that time. At some time (Manders suggests the late C17) a shoe fair developed, which by the 1720s was attracting traders from as far away as Teesdale, but it was in decline in the C19. In 1845 there were only seven stalls between Church Street and the railway bridge over High Street. The last shoe fair was held in 1853. Dated C13th.