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Newcastle, Tyne & Wear

Charlotte Square

Last Updated:

5 Jul 2024

Newcastle, Tyne & Wear

This is a

Dwelling, Housing Development, Garden

54.971042, -1.619748

Founded in 

1769

Current status is

Extent

Designer (if known):

William Newton

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Now a mixture of dwellings and commercial

Charlotte Square is such a handsome little square, still kind of nestled in away from the traffic.

This was Newcastle's first garden square development, some 60 years before Eldon Square, and was named after Queen Charlotte. Such enclosed developments were built as a space for the up and coming industrial gentry, with this then on the fringes of the town centre.

William Newton was granted permission by the council to build on the site in 1769, developing over an old tannery and the gardens of Blackfriars. It appears there was only ever 3 sides to the development, and unlike Eldon Square was always a shared communal garden.

Henry Ellison, the Sheriff of Northumberland, lived here towards the end of his life, as did Cuthbert Collingwood. In fact, his daughter was born here in 1792. William Newton, the architect known for his grand country houses and churches, lived here in his own creation.

Like other once genteel parts of Newcastle, it opened up as part of the city's urban fabric. Public toilets were constructed in the garden, and a single track tramway passed through.

Listing Description (if available)

(Listing info for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, CHARLOTTE SQUARE) 5 houses, now 4: offices and workshops. 1770 by William Newton. English bond brick with plinth and ashlar dressings; Welsh slate mansard roof with rendered gable to No. 3 at right. 3 storeys (except No. 3, 4 storeys); attics to No. 3. 3:5:4:3 bays. End houses project slightly. No. 3 has steps up to 4-panelled door in stone surround; and inserted door at left. No. 5 has a 6-panelled door in wide Tuscan surround; No. 6 a pedimented Tuscan doorcase with number on cartouche; No. 8 a 6-panelled door in plain reveal. Gauged brick flat arches to plain sashes, projecting stone sills to second floor and to third floor at No. 3; bands at ground and first floor sills and first floor level. Sashes renewed except in No. 5. Chimneys at rear and on ridge between Nos. 5 and 6. Interiors: No. 4 has boarded dado in entrance hall; ramped narrow handrail on plain balustrade with turned newels; some architraves. No. 6 has deep panelled reveal to one door on first floor, renewed staircase; No. 8 has entrance hall arch; hardboard- covered balustrade and ramped handrail; architraves. Interior of No. 3 not inspected. No. 5 has basement opened up circa 1980. (Listing info for Number 1) 2 houses, now offices. 1770 by William Newton. English bond brick with rendered plinth and ashlar dressings. Welsh slate roof. 3 storeys and attics; 6 bays. Wide double door, 8-panelled leaves, in fourth bay. Doorcase of fluted pilasters, carved spandrels and prominent cornice. Round brick door arch in first bay blocked and window inserted. Wedge stone lintels to plain sashes, with projecting stone sills on ground and second floors; bands at first floor, first floor sills, and eaves. Later mansard roof has 6 bargeboarded dormers. 6 steps to door have cast iron handrails on acanthus-leaf balusters, that at right renewed. Interior shows some architraves; 2 Venetian stair windows at rear; the lower has Tuscan columns with fluted necking.

The maps here show Newcastle between the 1830s and 1860s. The first, a plan of the town and Gateshead in 1833, illustrates Charlotte Square in reasonable detail. On the very edge of the towns original walled boundaries, the plan features the garden running above Cross Street and Fenkle Street. It's worth discussing its environs too. The Bath Lane Bowling Green, opened 1824, is shown (https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/sports-archive/6438/bath-lane%2C-bowling-green) as well as the now lost Westgate House and rear garden next to the Assembly Rooms.

The 1896 Ordnance Survey plan provides us a much deeper insight. By this time Charlotte Square was a small nook of the urban fabric, and in fact part of the logistical network given the tramway rang along it. A urinal was installed in the gardens which persisted until the late 20th century. A drinking water manufactory stood here, as well as a smithy at the rear of one of the dwellings.

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Charlotte Square in 2024

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Charlotte Square in 1969. Source: Newcastle Libraries

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William Newton's residence on the north side of the square in 2024

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Historic Ordnance Surveys provided by National Library of Scotland

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