Pipewellgate







Welcome to the Pipewellgate page which brings you text from
Vestiges of Old Newcastle and Gateshead by J.R. Boyle FSA
Low Felly Gaieshead'On-Tyne, June^ 1890.
The illustrations in the book are not available to me so I have sprinkled the text with pictures that were available







If you have arrived here directly from the search engine and used the search term Pipewellgate but only want an overview of the history of Gateshead you may wish to start on the Overview page
Most of this page, in italics, is from an old book and is quite heavy reading but worthwhile if you want more flesh on the bones



This illustration, which comes from the excellent book, gives an overview of Pipewellgate. Left click to enlarge. Pipewellgate was, and still is, the area numbered 2 left of the High Level Bridge and the Riverside area between the H L Bridge and the low level bridge

In 1782 a directory lists six public houses within the area: Cross Keys, Fountain, Fox, Queen’s Head, Ship, Smith’s Arms and Turk’s Head.

Left click to enlarge
In 1874, the pubs in Pipewellgate were - the Blue Bell, the Brandling Junction, the Cross Keys, the Crown & Thistle, the Fountain, the Globe, the New Bridge and the Three Tuns

Vestiges of Old Newcastle and Gateshead by J.R. Boyle FSA


...The gate leading to \ht pipe-well was formerly regarded as a distinct township, and, in a rental of the possessions of the convent of Durham in 1539, Gateshead itself is described as ** Gattyshede near Pypewelgat." The locality emerges from the dim mists of antiquity during the long episcopate of bishop Pudsey, who, for the sum of twenty marks and a yearly quit-rent of nineteen
pence, granted to Thorald of London, **all that his land, lying near the Tyne,on the west, from the head of T)me Bridge even to Redhoghe." The bishop had previously acquired the same land from Lessinus, Thorald's father-in-law. Thorald's son, Nicholas, afterwards granted to Sparcus, son of Gamell Oter, a part of the Pipewellgate estate, which is described as lying ** between the land of Warnebald the moneyer (monetarius) and the land of Adam the glover." At a later period Pipewellgate was the property and abode of some of the ancient and wealthy families of Gateshead, notably the Gategangs, the Dolphanbys, and the Sires.


Lefte click to enlargen Pypewelgat

The Gategangs occur as holding lands in Pipewellgate as early as 1287. Surtees believed them to have been a family "perfectly indigenous*' to Gateshead, "and to have derived their name from their residence on the main street." The pedigree begins with one Gilbert Gategang, whose son, also named Gilbert, was bailiflf of Gateshead from 1287 to 1316, and, probably, both before and
after those years. He was also, in 1312, one of four envoys appointed by the
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bishop of Durham to negotiate with Robert Bruce for a treaty of peace between the kingdom of Scotland and the palatinate. Nicholas Gategang, a brother of the second Gilbert, was rector of Ryton from 1334 to 1341, and was chaplain, then receiver, and lastly chancellor to bishop Bury. A son of Gilbert, named Alan, is styled, in 1348, "Lord of Pipewellgate," and, about the same time,
held a court ** before the bailiff and good men and true of Pipewellgate.*' Sibilla Gategang, who is believed to have been a daughter of the same Gilbert, occurs in 1331 as prioress of the nunnery of St. Bartholomew in Newcastle. John Gategang, another brother of Gilbert, seems to have been a favourite of
bishop Bee, and that prelate granted him certain lands in the parish of Gateshead, to which he took the liberty of adding four adjoining acres of moor and pasture within the township of Heworth. In this proceeding Gategang had,
apparently, the countenance of Bee ; but, as the Heworth lands belonged to the prior and convent of Durham, he was obliged to restore them. At the time of Hatfield's Survey, the Gategangs were represented by one William Gategang ; but in the next generation the heiress of the family married John de Gildeford, and the Gategangs of Gateshead became extinct.



The Dolphanbys were scarcely less important people than the Gategangs. John Dolphanby occurs as holding lands and tenements in Pipewellgate early in the fifteenth century. In 1414- 15 he farmed the bishop's coal mines in Gateshead, for which he entered into recognizances to pay a fine of 100 marks.
In 1420 he had license to found a chantry in St. Mary's, Gateshead (see page 141). He seems to have left no legitimate heir, but settled his estates on a grandson, Robert Dolphanby, who was the son of his daughter Alice. The grandson succeeded to his estates in 1429, but died nine years later, leaving an only daughter, Joan, then aged thirteen months. She afterwards married Conan Barton, of Whenby, a member of an old Yorkshire family, and with his
descendants the Gateshead estates of the Dolphanbys remained for two or three generations.

The Sires were also amongst the ancient aristocracy of Pipewellgate. William Sire, who made his will on Wednesday, the 29th May, 1353, held property on both sides of the street.*
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 A later William Sire, in 1408, contracts with Thomas Fourneys, a mason, for the construction of a staith in Pipe wellgate, which the builder promises shall be completed in nine months, unless he
is hindered by tempest, flood, or the malice of the people of Newcastle.! This was certainly not the first structure of its kind in Gateshead, for, in 1349, Isolda, the widow of Robert Fader of Pipewellgate, conveyed to William Syre and Eve his wife a certain piece of land, with its appurtenances, lying upon "ley Stathes/'

* I venture to append a translation of William Sire's will :

In the name of God, Amen, I William Sire of Pipewellgate in Gatesheved, on Wednesday the 29th day of May, in the year of our Lord m.cccliij, make my will in this way. In primis I bequeath my soul to Almighty God, and my body to be buried in the cemetery of Durham Abbey, where the monks of the convent of that place are buried, if the prior and convent will grant the same. Item, to the high altar in the church of Saint Mary of Gatesheved for my tithes
and oblations perchance forgotten, I give and bequeath 20s., with my best cloth in place of a mortuary. Item, to the altar of the Blessed Mary of the same church, in the north porch, 6s. 8d. Item, to the light of the altar of Saint Catherine of the same church, 6s. 8d. Item, to the chaplains and priests coming and being at my funeral, 3s. 4d. Item, to the fabric of the porch where my sons are buried, 20s. To the fabric of the same church, 68. 8d. Item, to the parish chaplain of the said church, 1 2d. Item to the priest of the same, 6d. Item, to every priest saying the Psalter, and to every widow praying for my soul and watching round my body, 2d. Item, for wax to be burnt around my body, 20s. Item, for expenses to be incurred in relation to my body on the day of my burial and for distribution to the poor, ;^20. Item, tothe prior of Durham, x marks. Item, to the convent of Diu-ham, x marks. Item, to the prior and convent of Tync-mouth, 13s. 4d. Item, to the master and monks of Jarowe, 4O8. Item, to the friars minors of the town of New Castle upon Tyne, 20s. Item, to the friars preachers, Augustinians and Carmelites of the said town, in equal portions, 20s. Item, to the fabric of the bridge of Tyne of the said town, 20s. Item, to the fabric of the latrina of the said bridge, 20s.
Item, to William Toller, my servant, 68. 8d. Item, to Sir William de Massam, the steward of Durham, one silver axe, with an ivory cup which was my own. Item, to Sir John de Newton, bursar of Durham, one silver cup called le HoVpiece. To William, son of William de Spiryden, my grandson, 3s. 4d. The residue of all my goods both on sea and land to the prior of Durham and Idonia my wife. « « « Given at Pipewellgate in Gateshead, the day and
year abovesaid.

\ The following is a translation of this contract :

Indenture made between William Syre and Thomas Fournays, for the construction of a Stayth* of squared stone.

This Indenture between William Syre of the one part and Thomas de Fournays, builder, of the other, testifies that the aforesaid Thomas has well and faithfully begun to make under a vow for the aforesaid William, a staith on his capital messuage in Pjrpewellgate in Gatesheved, on the water of Tyne on the north side, conUining in itself in length, eighteen feet in h ground ebbe of Tyne, equal in breadth with the breadth of the said messuage from the north side, and all at the cost of the aforesaid Thomas. So that the first hundred of taillstan [employed] in the said work, every taillstan
will be two and a half feet, and the rest of all the taillstans will be three feet, and more rather than less, for the perfection of the said work. And the east side of the aforesaid staith will be firmly joined with coglestan^ equally without defect.
And that the said work will be done before the feast of St. Nicholas next after the date of the execution of these presents, unless it be hindered by tempest, flood, or, maliciously, by the people of the town of New Castle upon Tyne.
And that the said Thomas will make for the said William a sufficient drain within the said staith, and for making and perfecting this work the aforesaid William will give to the aforesaid Thomas or his appointed attorney ten marks sterling of silver, that his work may be perfected without defect. In testimony whereof the aforesaid parties have alternately affixed their seals to the present indenture. Witnesses, Peter de Lewe, bailiff of Gatesheved, Alan Gategang,
James Gategang, Peter the dyer, Roger Rede, Cuthbert the priest, and many others. Given at Pypewellgate, Sunday
next after the feast of Saint Peter ad Vincula, Anno Domini, 1408.
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Pipewellgate leads to Redheugh, a. manor which, as we have seen, is mentioned in Pudsey's grant to Thorald of London. The estate afterwards gave name to a resident family, and, about 1280, Alexander del Redouch occurs as witness to a charter. The last Redheugh died without issue in 1420, and the manor passed to female heirs. It was afterwards the property successively of
the families of White, Liddell, RadcliflFe, and Askew. Surtees speaks of the house as a "handsome modem seat,'* and there are persons still living who remember its delightful sylvan surroundings.

I have already mentioned the pipe-well. Like the pant it was a constant expense to the parish, and the church and borough accounts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries contain many entries of payments for its repair. A few of these I print below.*


Very few are the traces of the former importance of Pipewellgate which can now be discovered. Many of the old houses have fallen into ruin ; others have been converted into workshops, whilst, on the sites of some, manufactories of one kind or other have been erected. Behind the buildings, at the eastern extremity of its south side, is an old half-timbered building of the sixteenth
century, which can be seen to advantage from the stairs in Bankwell Lane.
Another interesting old house, the ** Fountain Inn," has been noticed in a previous chapter.