📌 Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear
★★★★
The history of Tynemouth Priory and Castle is long and complex, and – as you may have guessed – a story of religion and defence intertwined. The 1074-1539 priory forms the greatest portion of what remains today, but several other elements survive to make this one of the most fascinating historic attractions in northern England.
A monastic community was probably established at Tynemouth by the mid 7th century and was sufficiently important that the Northumbrian king, Osred II was buried here in 792. The monastery was destroyed in 875 after the last of a series of Viking raids, but was re-established in 1083 by Turchil, a monk from nearby Jarrow; it flourished as a pilgrimage site due to the somewhat implausible discovery of the body of King Oswine of Deira here. With Jarrow to thank for its resurrection, Tynemouth was controlled by the Bishop of Durham, who had given permission for the re-founding of Jarrow in 1074. However, in 1090 the Earl of Northumbria granted ownership of the headland to St Alban’s Abbey, raising the monastery to priory status but placing it under the jurisdiction of a power base hundreds of miles to the south, while angering Durham. Meanwhile, nearby Newcastle’s trade monopoly was threatened by Tynemouth’s port trade at North Shields. Conflicts between Tynemouth, Newcastle, Durham and St Albans ensured turbulence over the next few centuries, including burnings, raids, economic sanctions and even the arrest of the prior in 1294. Hard-fought independence from St Albans was finally won in the early 1500s – ironically just in time for the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries, after which the priory was abandoned for religious purposes.
The elevated coastal headland on which the priory sits is obviously an excellent defensive site, nearly surrounded by cliffs and overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne. Iron-age tribes were the first people to use the promontory in this way, digging a ditch across the neck of the headland. The monastery already had some defences when Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland took refuge here after rebelling against King William II around 1095. King Edward I fully fortified the priory with perimeter walls in 1296 to deter Scottish armies, with the substantial gatehouse added by Richard II in 1390. During and following the “Rough Wooing” of the 1540s, the headland became a military supply base, then a garrison and latterly a gun battery. Military activity continued sporadically until 1956; most of the newer associated buildings have since been removed but the gun emplacements remain, along with the Warrant Officer’s House which contains a small exhibition.
🌍 Location
📌 Front Street, 5-min walk east of Tynemouth town centre
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NZ 373694
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.017748,-1.417587
🚌 Front Street / East Street | 🚇 Tynemouth (0.5 mi)
🚗 Car parks / street parking (charge) – or free car park to south
📝 Key info
⌚ Generally daily, April to 3 November 2024 & February half term; weekends, 4 November to March
🎫 £8.10+ adult / £4.50+ child depending on season / free for English Heritage members – discount for booking online
