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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: NAN-NEW |
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NEWCASTLE , a city and the county-seat of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Shenango river, at the mouth of Neshannock Creek, about 5o m. N.N.W. of Pittsburg. Pop. (1890) 11,600; (1900) 28,339, 5324 being foreign-born and 463 negroes; (191o) 36,280. It is served by the Pennsylvania, the Erie, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railways. Cascade Park, in the neighbourhood, is a pleasure resort. The surrounding country, with which the city has an extensive trade, is well adapted to agriculture, and abounds in bituminous coal, iron ore, limestone, sandstone and fire-clay. In 1905 the city ranked fifth among the cities of the state in the value of its factory product, and of its products (valued at $29,433,635, an increase of 47.1 %since woo) iron and steel, and tin and terne-plates were the most important. Newcastle was founded in 1802, became a borough in 1869, and was first chartered as a city in 1875, its charter being revised in 1887. NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, a market town and municipal and parliamentary borough of Staffordshire, England, 2 M. W. of Stoke-upon-Trent by the North Staffordshire railway. Pop. (1901) 19,914. The parish church of St Giles was rebuilt in 1873-1876 by Sir Gilbert Scott, with the exception of the tower, which dates from the 12th century. The free grammar school, originally founded in 1602, possesses large endowments, increased by the amalgamation of various subsequent bequests for educational purposes, and now consists of high and middle schools for boys and Orme's school for girls. There is also a school of art included with a free library in handsome municipal buildings. The manufacture of hats was once the staple trade, but it has declined. There are cotton
Newcastle-under-Lyme (Neofchastell-sur-Lyme, Newcastle-under-Lyme) is not mentioned in Domesday, but it must early have become a place of importance, for a charter, known only through a reference in a charter to Preston, was given to the town by Henry II. The town owes its name to a castle built here in the 12th century to supersede an older fortress at Chester-ton about 2 M. to the north, of which the ruins were to be seen in the 16th century, and to the fact that it was situated under the forest of Lyme. Henry III. (1235) constituted it a free borough, granting a gild merchant and other privileges; in 1251 he leased it at fee-farm to the burgesses; the governing charter in 1835 was that of 1590 enlarged by that of 1664, under which the title of the corporation was the " mayor, bailiffs and burgesses of Newcastle-under-Lyme." Newcastle, which was originally held by the crown, was granted (1265) to Simon de Montfort, and subsequently to Edmund Crouchback, through whom it passed to Henry IV. In Leland's time the castle had disappeared " save one great Toure "; in the 17th and 18th centuries the town was flourishing and had a manufacture of hats. The market was originally held on Sunday; in the reign of John it was changed to Saturday; by the charter of Elizabeth it was fixed on Monday. Markets are now held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Grants of fairs were given by Edward I., Edward III. and Henry VI. Up to the time of the passing of the Municipal Reform Act the farce of electing a mock mayor was gone through annually after the election of the real mayor. Newcastle sent two members to parliament from 1355 to 1885, when it lost one representative.See Victoria County History, Stafford; T. Ingamells, Historical Records and Directory of Newcastle-under-Lyme. NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, a city and county of a city, municipal, county and parliamentary borough, and port of Northumberland, England, 272 M. N. by W. of London, on the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 186,300;- (1901) 215,328. It stands on the N. bank of the Tyne, which is here high and steeply inclined above the river. The mouth of the river into the -North Sea is 8 m. below Newcastle and its banks are lined with docks and industrial towns, while its narrow waters are crowded with traffic. Though Newcastle owes its origin to a Roman station at a bridge over the river, its modern growth has largely destroyed traces of antiquity. Of the old walls which, according to Leland, "for strength and magnificence far surpassed all the'walls of the cities of England and of most of the towns of Europe," and the circuit of which was 2 M. 239 yds., there are slight remains, although the fortifications were allowed to go into disrepair after the union of Scotland and England. The castle, from which the town takes its name, stood on a slight elevation
hall
Baliol
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corporation in 1809, and is under the charge of the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, which uses a portion of it as an antiquarian museum. Near the castle is St Nicholas church, forming the cathedral of the diocese of New-castle, instituted in 1882. The diocese covers practically the whole of Northumberland, with a very small portion of Cumber-land. The church, which is principally Decorated, consists of nave, aisles, chancel and transepts, the total length of the interior from east to west being 245 ft., and the width at the transepts 128 ft. The principal feature of the church is the lantern tower, a later addition and a very fine specimen of early Perpendicular. Among other interesting old churches is St Andrew's church, erected in the 11th century, and retaining Norman characteristics, with a low square tower and a peal of six bells. During the siege by the Parliamentary army in 1644 it was greatly damaged. St John's church is a building of the 14th century with an ancient front. Of the nine conventual buildings at one time existing in Newcastle or its immediate neighbourhood, a few fragments of the monastery of the Black Friars remain, and the chapel of the hospital of St Mary at Jesmond forms a picturesque ruin. There are a number of quaint Elizabethan houses in the steep street called the Side, and in the Sandhill at its foot.Some of the modern streets of Newcastle are spacious and handsome. The most noteworthy are Grey Street, in which a complete scheme of Grecian architecture is followed, and Grainger Street. This thoroughfare is named after Richard Grainger (1798-1861), a wealthy local architect who devoted himself to the beautifying of his city with remarkable energy. Of numerous modern churches may be noted that of St George, Jesmond, a landmark for a great distance and finely decorated within, and the Roman Catholic cathedral of the diocese of Hex-ham and Newcastle. The most important public buildings are the corporation buildings, including a large public hall
Among educational establishments the chief are the colleges of medicine and of physical science of the university of Durham; the first granting degrees in medicine and surgery; the second, with which the school of art is incorporated, degrees in science and literature. The college of science, or Armstrong College as it is called in commemoration of the first Lord Armstrong, was founded in 1871; the north-east wing was opened in 1888;further parts of the building in 1894, and the west wing by King Edward in 1906. The royal free grammar school, founded in 1525, occupies modern buildings in Jesmond. There should be mentioned also Allan's endowed schools, founded in 1705, and reorganized by the charity commissioners in 1877; and Rutherford College and the Commercial Institute, providing technical and commercial education. The Laing Art Gallery was erected and presented to the city by Alexander Laing, and opened in 1904. Among clubs and similar institutions are the Literary and Philosophical Society, founded in 1793, the Society of Antiquaries, founded in 1813, with a museum in the castle; the Natural History Society and museum; the Tyneside Geographical Society; the Tyneside Naturalists' Club, established in 1846; the Mechanics' Institution, 1824; the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, 1852; the Fine Arts Society; the Farmers' Club; the Northern Counties' Club; the Union Club; and the University Club. Several clubs for working men form a note-worthy social feature. There is a public library and newsroom. The Royal Victoria Infirmary on the Castle Leazes is a memorial of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and was opened in rgo6. The benevolent institutions also include the dispensary (1777), fever house (1803), lying-in hospital (,76o), eye infirmary (1822), children's hospital, Trinity almshouses (1492), hospital of the Holy Jesus (1682), hospital (1701) for keelmen, i.e. coal-bargemen; and institutions for the blind, dumb and orphans. Newcastle is well supplied with public parks and recreation grounds. To the N. of the city is the Castle Leazes ornamental park of 35 acres, and beyond this the Town Moor and racecourse, an extensive common, the survival of the pasture land of the township. Eastward from Town Moor is Brandling Park, and westward Nun's Moor. The picturesque grounds of Armstrong Park N.E. of the city extend to about 50 acres, the larger half of which was presented by Sir W. G. Armstrong, who also presented the beautifully wooded grounds of Jesmond Dene. Elswick Park in the south-west of the city, extending to 84 acres, includes Elswick Hall. There are several others. Jesmond, N.E. of the city, is the chief residential suburb. It takes name from " Jesus Mount," and was formerly a place of pilgrimage, possessing a hospital dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Both the Northumberland and Durham banks of the river are lined with manufacturing towns or suburbs. Of these the most important is Gateshead (q.v.) immediately opposite New-castle; while those adjacent to Newcastle on the same bank are Benwell and Fenham (pop. in 1901, 18,316) on the west, and Walker (13,336) on the east. The last-named two (formerly urban districts), together with part of Kenton, were incorporated with Newcastle in 1904. Newcastle is connected with the south bank of the Tyne by four bridgestwo high-level bridges, an hydraulic swing bridge and a suspension bridge. The old high-level bridge carries the North-Eastern railway, with a road and footway beneath it. It was opened by Queen Victoria in 1849. The new high-level bridge, carrying the railway only, was opened by King Edward VII. in 1906; it consists of four steel spans on granite piers. The hydraulic swing bridge, on the low level, was built to replace a stone structure erected in 1781 on the site of a bridge dating from 1250, and destroyed by a flood in 1771. The Roman bridge, the Pons Aelii, is said to have spanned the river at the same point. The hydraulic bridge (1876) consists of one large centre pier, two midstream piers and two abutments; and its foundations are iron cylinders resting on the solid rock, 6o ft. below the bed of the river. Two spans, which open simultaneously by machines impelled by steam, allow 103 ft. of waterway for vessels going up and down the river. About half a mile farther up the stream is the Redheugh bridge (1871). The central station of the North-Eastern railway is an extensive and handsome structure built on a sharp
Newcastle owes its prosperity to its convenient situation on additional aldermen, while the charter of James I. in 1604 a tidal river, and to the immense stores of coal in the neighbour- hood, which, besides being largely exported, stimulate a great variety of industries which are dependent on their use. It began to export coal about the end of the 13th century, but the trade received a severe check by the act of Edward I. which made the burning of coal in London a capital offence. In the reign of Edward III. licence was granted to the inhabitants " to dig coals and stones in the common soil of the town without the walls thereof in the place called the Castle Field and the Forth." The quay in front of the town, extending from the hydraulic bridge to the Ouseburn, forms a fine thoroughfare of about a mile in length; and by means of dredging a depth of water has been obtained at the shore permitting vessels of large tonnage to approach, although the berths of the ocean steamers are a little farther down the river. The quay is supplied with the most improved mechanical appliances, and has direct communication with the North-Eastern railway. There is a large grain warehouse at the E. end of the quay. Exports include coal, chemicals, pig-iron, iron-work, steel, iron bars, plates and castings, machinery, fire-clay goods and copper. The chief imports are fruits, wheat, maize, oats, barley, iron and steel, petroleum, sulphur ore, timber and wood hoops, iron ore and potatoes. Steamers carrying passengers serve the principal English ports, Cardiff, Leith, &c.; also Baltic ports and New York
History.Newcastle owes its origin to its position on the great Roman wall
appointed 24 common councilmen. Newcastle has been represented in parliament by two members since 1295. The coal trade, to which the town owes its prosperity, began in the 13th century, but, partly owing to the act of parliament passed in the reign of Edward I. forbidding the use of coal in London, did not become important until the 17th century. Glassmaking was a considerable trade in the 17th century, and in 1823 George Stephenson established iron works at Newcastle, where the first engines used on the Stockton and Darlington, and Manchester and Liverpool lines were made. See Victoria County History, Northumberland; John Brand, The History and Antiquities of the Town and County of the Town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1789); Chirographia, or a Survey of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1818). End of Article: NEWCASTLE If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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