Quayside (street) | Co-Curate

The Quayside is a historic road in Newcastle upon Tyne that runs along the side of the River Tyne. The waterfront was not fully developed until the late 13th century. To build a continuous quay along the waterfront much of the land had to be reclamed, with the land raised by infilling up to 6 metres deep in some parts.[1] It was not until the Quayside existed that the Town Walls could be extended from Sand Gate to the (old) Tyne Bridge. The wall had  "a great many gates, called Water Gates. These, in the reign of king James I. Anno 1616, were ordered to be locked up every night, except one or two to stand open for the masters and seamen to go to and fro to their ships" (Bourne, 1736). Sand Gate and sections of the wall alond the Quayside were demolished in 1798 as they had become highly inconvenient as Newcastle grew and the need for defences had deminished.

Account of the Quay by Mackenzie (1827):

The Quay, or Keyside, is built, like all the lower parts of the town, upon sand. Previous to the year 1763, it was bounded on the south side by the town-wall, which rendered the street very narrow, dirty, and inconvenient. It is at present one of the longest and most commodious wharfs in the kingdom; being, from Sandgate to the Tyne Bridge, about 541 yards in length. The whole line is usually crowded with shipping, keels, wherries, steam-boats, and other small craft; and exhibits a continual, varied, and pleasing bustle. The entire street consists of shops, ware-rooms, offices, and public houses; and the situation being so convenient for those concerned in the shipping trade, property is very valuable here, and every contrivance is employed to adapt the shops and houses to the taste and necessities of modern times. After the old wall was pulled down, the east end of the Quayside, from Spicer Lane to Sandgate, was divided by iron rails, and the part next the river was descended by several steps; but a few years ago, it was raised and levelled, and now forms a fine broad wharf, used mostly by Scotch vessels. The west end of the Quayside, opposite to the Exchange, was also considerably widened in the year 1811.