Visit OldNewcastle to explore nearly 2000 years of history all packed into half a square mile. Whether you want to explore, take in the fine architecture or discover the rich heritage of the historic heart of Newcastle, there's something here for eveyone.
How to get here
As the hsitoric heart of Newcastle the area is easily accessible no matter where you are coming from.
Arriving by train
If you arrive by train a pleasant, short 5 minute stroll from Central Station will bring you to the Castle Keep, Cathedral and Black Gate. Walking directions
Arriving by Metro
Central Station or Monument Metro stations are the closest to Old Newcastle. A short 5 minute stroll from Central Station will bring you to the Castle Keep, Cathedral and Black Gate or a 5 minute stroll down Grey Street turning right along Mosley Street will bring you to the Cathedral and then on to the Black Gate and the Castle keep. Walking directions from Central Station | Walking directions from Monument
Arriving by car
Amen CornerThe nearest major public car park can be found on Dean Street where parking can be paid using cash or by telephone. To get to Old Newcastle walk out of the car park, cross straight over Dean Street and almost directly in front of you is a small stairway that brings you up into Amen Corner at the east end of the Cathedral. Amen Corner was home to Ralph Beilby and Thomas Bewick's workshops. Whilst you are there see if you can spot the popular 'Vampire Hare' - a curious architectural adornment over the rear entrance to Cathedral Buildings.
Other car parks can be found around the centre of Newcastle. Follow this to view an interactive map of car parks in Newcastle.
Head south down Grey Street passing by the Theatre Royal. Grey Street which curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne and was voted as England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. In the Google Street View awards of 2010, Grey Street came 3rd in the British picturesque category. At the end of Grey Street turning right along Mosely Street will bring you to the north facade of St Nicholas Cathedral with great views of the Lantern Tower. Mosley Street was the first street to be lit by the incandescent light bulb!
As you come out of Central Station turn right along neville Street. You will pass by the monument to George Stephenson, father of Robert Stephenson, The Literary and Philosphical Society and the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers before going straight on down Collingwood Street, so named after Admiral Lord Collingwood or turning right down Westgate Road. Following Collingwood Street will bring you to The Cathedral Church of Saint Nicholas. Turning right down Wesgate Road will bring you to the Black Gate and Castle Keep.
Castle stairsFrom the Quayside's historic Sandhaill which contains the Guidhall (Visitor Information Centre) and Bessie Surtees House (two five-storey 16th and 17th-century merchants' houses now home to English Heritage's regional office) walk up The Side, the main historic route in to Newcastle from medieval times onwards. For centuries Newcastle's Hostmen would bring traders up from the Quayside via the Side and in to the heart of Newcastle where they found them lodgings and introduced them to Newcastle's businessmen and merchants. You could take Dog Leap Stairs if you fancy. They come off the Side and rise to the Castle Garth. Dire Straights mention them in their song, "Down to the Waterline" and folklore has it that Bessie Surtees eloped up these stairs with John Scott, later Lord Eldon and Lord Chancellor of England, on horseback before getting married in Scotland.
The Castle stairs are another historic route into Old Newcastle. The entrance to this historic stairway to the Castle Garth can be found a little further west along Sandhill, almost opposite the road leading from the Swing Bridge. It's steep but will bring you up to the Castle Garth passed the old well.