The north side of Bailiff Gate is pictured here in 1880, seven years before it was demolished. The railways reshaped much of the city centre and had already consumed the south side of this street.
Bailiff Gate was one of the most ancient streets in Newcastle. It connected the lower end of Westgate Road with the Bailey Gate, which was the principal entrance to the Castle before the Black Gate was added in the 13th century. You can see the Castle in the background of the photo.
Newcastle was separated from Northumberland in 1400 by King Henry IV and became a county in its own right, but the Castle remained part of Northumberland. Criminals from Northumberland were imprisoned there before being tried at the Assizes; they were taken to it by the Castle’s bailiffs along Bailiff Gate.
‘Gate’ in this sense is an old term for a road or street; we see it elsewhere in Newcastle at Gallowgate, which was the road to the gallows on the Town Moor. Bailiff Gate was lined with the homes of people who either had connections with the Castle, or might need to seek refuge there in times of trouble.
The Old Duke of Cumberland Inn stood on the south side of Bailiff Gate, a building that was formerly the home of the bailiffs of the Castle. The Bank of England was another important occupant, their first branch in Newcastle opened on the south side of the street in 1828. Demolition of these buildings began in 1846 to accommodate a railway viaduct from the High Level Bridge to the Central Station, which separated Bailiff Gate from the Castle.
The north side of the street also once had important inhabitants. The two men in the foreground of the photo are standing outside Richard Wade’s marine store, said to have been built as a house for an Earl of Northumberland. The building to the right of it was occupied by a shopkeeper called Christiana Walker – there’s a woman standing in the doorway, who could be her.
You can see the railway viaduct on the right side of the photo. It was no longer able to cope with the growing number of trains passing over it, so it was decided to double its width. The demolition of the north side of Bailiff Gate began in April of 1887, along with part of Back Row directly behind it.
There’s no trace of Bailiff Gate today, but this photo gives us a rare glimpse of one of Newcastle’s oldest and most historically interesting streets.