On arrival at the finish point of our expedition, we noticed a castle-like- building on a prominent rocky out crop. On further investigation we found out that it was the famous Tynemouth priory. It looked very exciting so we decided to look around it, whilst we were there we believed it would make an interesting project.

EARLY SETTLEMENT

Evidence for early settlement has so far been slight, largely because so little of the interior has been examined archaeologically. Excavations on the headland in 1963, following the removal of the military buildings, have provided evidence for one large Iron Age circular timber-built house to the north of the church, and a smaller circular hut nearby which might be Roman. Romano-British pottery was found in the vicinity but no sign of military works.

The headland does not directly control the Tyne entrance and the Roman fort of South Shields was better sited for this purpose. The Roman inscribed stones that were found re-used as building material on the north side of the church in the eighteenth century may have been brought from the forts at Wallsend or South Shields.

ANGLICAN MONASTERY

An early Christian monastery was established at Tynemouth by the end of the seventh century. Heribald, a friend of the Venerable Bede who died in 735, was abbot for a time. Traditionally, St Oswin, the murdered King of Deira, was buried here in 651 and this event was to be of the greatest importance for Tynemouth. St Oswin inspired great devotion and any miracles were attributed to him. St Osred, another murdered King of Northumbria, was also buried at Tynemouth in 792. The monastery was plundered by the Danes in 800 and eventually destroyed in 875. There remained subsequently only a curch dedicated to St Mary. It was to here that the relics of St Oswin were formally translated in 1065 having been previously taken to Jarrow for safekeeping.

It is particularly interesting that, during the excavations of 1963, four rectangular timber buildings were discovered. There were no associated finds but it seems likely that they were buildings associated with the Anglican monastery as they were distinctly earlier than the Norman monastic buildings. Other rectangular structures, possibly of similar date, were found in 1980 on the site of the new Coastguard building.

Evidence for the early monastery of a more tangible kind are the decorated fragments of Anglican crosses and grave markers, which were re-used as building materials. These are now in the Museum of Antiquities in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The ninth-century cross shaft, the Monk's Stone, standing to the south of the present cemetery, was found about 2 miles away during the eighteenth century and is now the only visible relic of this early date on the site.

THE PRIORY

Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, refounded the monastery at Tynemouth in 1085 as a Benedictine priory dependent on St `Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire; monks were sent from there to colonise their new, daughter house. Tynemouth Priory was The principal dependency of St Albans abbey, and was of great financial value to motherhouse. Tynemouth had an additional use as a place where unruly members of the community could be sent into exile.

It was inevitable that this situation was continually challenged by the monks of Durham, in whose hands the earlier church at Tynemouth had been. A quarrel between Mowbray and the Bishop of Durham had led to this unexpected outcome.

The building of the priory church seems to have begun by 1090, and the quire and east end were completed by 1110 for the relics of St Oswin to be translated to the new church. It appears from the Life of St Oswin that the pre-Conquest church was still standing after the erection of the Norman quire and lay outside it. Another notable event in these early days was the burial here of King Malcolm III of Scotland following his defeat and death at Alnwick in 1093, but his body was subsequently moved to Dunfermline Abbey.

The buildings around the cloister were also under construction and there is a reference to the dormitory by 1111. There was a degree of expansion with the cloister being extended to the west and the western range being rebuilt about 1140. The dining hall (refectory) was completed by about 1150, when there is a report of a fire in a neighbouring building for housing guests.

The enlargement of the east end of the church at the end of the twelfth century has been attributed to Prior Akarius. The construction of the great four-bay presbytery seems to have been intended as a splendid new setting for the shrine of St Oswin, set behind the high altar in the second bay from the east to judge by the position of the aumbry, piscina and sedilia in the south wall. The shrine was a great object of pilgrimage.

The following is a contemporary description of Tynemouth Priory, and life there early in the thirteenth century written by an exiled southerner to a fellow monk at St Albans:

Our house is confined to the top of a high rock and is surrounded by the sea on every side but one. Here is the approach to the monastery through a gate cut out of the rock so narrow that a cart can hardly pass through. Day and night the waves break and roar and undermine the cliff Thick sea frets roll in wrapping everything in gloom. Dim eyes, hoarse voices, sore throats are the consequence. Spring and Summer never come here. The north wind is always blowing and brings with it cold and snow; or storms in which the wind tosses the salt sea in masses over our buildings and rains it down within the castle. Shipwrecks are frequent. It is great pity to see the numbed crew, whom no power on earth can save, whose vessel, mast swaying and timbers parted, rushes upon rock or reef. No ring dove or nighting gale is here, only grey birds which nest in the rocks and greedily prey on the drowned, whose screaming cry is a token of a coming storm.... In the Spring the sea air blights the blossoms of the stunted fruit trees, so that you think yourself lucky to find a wizened apple, though it will set your teeth on edge should you try to eat it? See to it, dear brother that you do not come to this comfortless place. But the church is of wondrous beauty. It has been lately completed. Within it rests the body of the blessed martyr, Oswin, in a silver shrine, magnificently embellished with gold and jewels. He protects the murderers, thieves and seditious persons who fiy to him and commutes their punishment to exile. He heals those who no physician can cure. The martyr's protection and the church's beauty furnish us with a bond of unity. We are well off for food, thanks to the abundant supply of fish of which we tire.

Much building work continued during the first half of the thirteenth century. This Included the addition of two bays to the west of the Norman church and also more work on the claustral buildings. A Lady Chapel was begun about 1326 by Prior Richard of Tewing on the north side of the presbytery. Prior Thomas de la Mare built substantially after 1346. He removed the shrine of St Oswin to another part of the church (perhaps to the new Lady Chapel) in order to separate pilgrimages from the normal monastic services. Prior de la Mare also rebuilt the dormitory in 1347-49.

It may be that the eastern extension, built in the mid fifteenth century and now known as the Percy Chantry, was a replacement for the Lady Chapel. It is appropriately sited and was certainly known by this title in early references. Nevertheless, there is a clear Percy connection as appears from two of the badges in the vaulting bosses.

The nave served the needs of the parish. A settlement between Durham and St Albans in 1140 meant that vicars were appointed by the prior with the consent of the Abbot of St Albans and were admitted by the Bishop of Durham. A door in the north wall of the nave gave access to the priest's lodging.

Much of the history of the priory is one of continuing quarrels with the Bishops of Durham and of mainly commercial rivalries with the town of Newcastle. There were disputes over properties; the maintenance of the Priory's Liberty, and a striving for economic advantages.

In about 1270 Nicholas Scot, Mayor of Newcastle and at the head of over a hundred armed citizens, attacked the priory's new town of North Shields, burnt the mills and many houses, carried off a shipload of coal and inflicted a loss to the priory of £300.

Tynemouth was one of the wealthier monasteries. Besides the usual endowments of land, the priory exploited the local coal deposits, which had been worked at least as early as the latter part of the thirteenth century, and shipped the product out of the Tyne. The Library of Tynemouth comprised all the scattered manors and townships held by the prior and the convent. By the end of the thirteenth century this was an extensive franchise.

There were also tensions caused by the efforts of some priors to obtain independence from St Albans. In 1294 this led to the Abbot of St Albans, John de Berkhamstead, with the support of the Mayor of Newcastle and an armed following, forcing his way into the prior's lodging at midnight and carrying off Prior Walden to St Albans, and appointing a replacement.
The priory needed its revenues, for not only were the priors responsible for maintenance of the castle and a garrison but on many occasions they were required to provide accommodation and hospitality for a succession of notables on route to and from Scotland, and sometimes the King himself. Edward II and Piers Gaveston stayed at the priory; Edward III came in 1335, and later, Richard II.

The priory was dissolved in 1539 with all the other major religious houses. At Prior Blakeney's surrender on 12 January there were, besides himself, fifteen monks. The prior was pensioned off and went to live at his manor of Benwell, materials of value were taken from the priory and St Oswin's shrine was broken up. The priory and its lands were leased to Sir Thomas Hilton.

An Elizabethan survey of the headland of about 1577 provides a detailed description of the various buildings associated with the priory and their functions. Barns and agricultural buildings lay mainly to the north of the church; brewhouses, malt kilns, and lodgings for guests were about the inner court to the west.

MEDIEVAL DEFENCES

Tynemouth's defences seem to have served as a refuge for local people in the troubled early years of the Norman Conquest. Robert de Mowbray's castle was substantial. Following his rebellion in 1095 against the King, William Rufixs, Tynemouth was able to hold out against the King's forces for two months before its capture.

The King went on to besiege Bamburgh, and Mowbray tried to cut William's communications to the south but was forced to retreat to Tynemouth with thirry followers. This time the siege lasted only two days and the earl, severely wounded, sought sanctuary in the church only to be dragged out and condemned to suffer a long imprisonment before entering St Albans Abbey and ending his days as a monk of the abbey he had enriched.

The mound to the south of the gatehouse may have been the mote carrying the principal timber tower of this early castle.
With the establishment of the monastery, within the fortified enclosure, the prior was obliged to maintain the castle at his own cost. The main defences would have been across the neck of the headland and there are indications of early masonry structures in the gatehouse area, but the first documented reference to defences is a licence to crenate of 1296. This was formal consent from the Crown to fortify, and probably represented a reordering of the existing castle. The site involved one of the largest fortifications in England in terms of wall circumference: 3200 feet (974m).

During the war with Scotland in the early fourteenth century, the castle was garrisoned and provisioned against attack. The Whitley Tower may have been constructed about this time and named after Gilbert of Whitleigh who was the master and supervisor of the royal works at Newcastle Castle in 1356. Prior Richard de Tewing maintained a garrison of eighty armed men within the monastery. In 1346, Ralph de Neville attempted to treat Tynemouth as a royal fortress but this move was frustrated by Prior de la Mare. It led to royal recognition that the prior had the right to exercise sole authority within the walls. In 1349, Tynemouth was described in a royal letter as one of the strongest fortresses in the Marches (Anglo-Scottish borderlands).

The present gatehouse was built by Prior John of Wethamstede in the 1390s, perhaps following the fashion for militarily strong outer gatehouses to monasteries, which can be seen at places such as Bury St Edmunds and St Albans. In its design it seems to be a copy of that at Alnwick Castle, with its barbican separated by an open court from the gatehouse itself. It did, however, represent a contribution to national defence and the King and other prominent northern landholders subscribed over, 666 towards its cost. Since there were regular visitations from the Abbots of St Albans, as well as royal and other important personages, who would have expected to be accommodated in suitable style at the priory, the new gatehouse may also have served as a splendid guest suite. Its grand internal arrangements support this hypothesis.

TUDOR AND LATER DEFENCES

At the Dissolution, the priory's run-down defences lacked any sort of ordnance. Yet the potential of the site as a fortress was appreciated and in 1545 Richard Lee, the military engineer, was sent by the King to take an assessment of it, accompanied by two other engineers: Gian Tommaso Scala and Antonio da Bergamo, `Italians expert in fortifying.' Lee's opinion was that it is `a place most apt and needful to be Fortified none within this realm more.' Tynemouth was no longer regarded as an isolated place of refuge but the main defence of the Tyne. In 1544 the Earl of Hertford had made Tynemouth a base for the English fleet during the invasion of Scotland. A plan, which still survives, was drawn up which envisaged two enormous `Italian style' demi-bastions at either end of the wider promontory; the southern demi-bastion occupying the area where the Watch House and the adjacent houses now stand, east of the Collingwood Monument.

In fact, these great bastions were not built; instead a wide ditch with a long irregular rampart and wall with flanking emplacements was dug across the neck of the promontory. In the area of the Spanish Battery was a two-tier platform. This position may have got its name from some Spanish mercenaries quartered here at the time of Hertford's Scottish campaign. At the same time, the medieval walls of the castle were reinforced. The walls on either side of the gatehouse appear to have been replaced by stone-revetted earthworks to provide gun platforms.

The fortifications were armed with cannon and there was a garrison of fifty men. There was, however, a longstanding problem. To control the mouth of the Tyne, the batteries needed to be set low on the headland south of the castle but, in order to accommodate the garrison adequately, the castle and priory buildings, some 600 yards (550m) away, had to be used.

By 1584, there were only ten guns in the fortress and of these a stake and two falcons were placed on the Mount. For the rest of the sixteenth century there is a picture of neglect. There were proposals for refortification in 1625 and Spanish Battery was improved during the Civil War. The parish church in the priory nave was in use as an ordnance store in 1558 and by 1608 was in great decay. The church finally fell into ruin during the Civil War, so Christ Church was built at North Shields and consecrated in 1668. The parish burial ground, however, continued to be on the site of the monastic cemetery, causing much friction between later garrisons and parish officials.
In 1640 the castle was seized and garrisoned by the Scots but returned to royal hands in 1642. It was then held by the Royalists until surrendered to Parliament's Scottish allies in 1644. Thereafter it kept changing hands until it was finally recaptured for Parliament by Sir Arthur Heselrig.

After the Restoration of Charles II, the castle's governor was Colonel Sir Edward Villiers. There were nine guns of assorted sizes, with a master gunner and twenty gunners. In 1663 a warrant was made out to Sir Edward Villiers for £3200 for the repair of the fortifications. What was achieved is unclear but Villiers built himself a house and re-established the priory light by building a lighthouse.

By 1676 the castle was much ruined and there was a `great necessary for erecting a half moon to cover the gate and for making a half bastion before the south battery'. The engineer, Martin Beckman, provided an estimate for repairs but two years later he succinctly described the position as follows: “This castle as it is now situated north not deserve the charge of a garrison, it being not a frontier place, north it command either River or passage, but if there be a line of communication from the Castle to ye black mundings [Black Middens], it will be a place of great importance for commanding absolutely the mouth of ye River.” Beckman was responsible for designing Clifford’s Fort at North Shields in 1672, which had much more effective control over the river.

By 1705-07 the castle was described as consisting of part regular and part irregular works `after ancient manner,' but it was a good defence as it was situated on a peninsula and rock 80 feet (24m) perpendicular from the water. The land approach was by a regular hornwork and ditch not above 12 feet (3.6m) wide. It was recommended that the hornwork ditch should be widened to 60 feet (18.3m) and a counterscarp made after the modern method of fortifications. Parts of the old castle were to be lowered and good and useful batteries made in their place.

Fifty years later, the castle had an irregular wall and firing step along the cliffs. Towards the land was a strong wall and square tower with `a kind of fausse braye,' a lower parapet at the foot of the rampart. There were rampart-mounted cannon at the salient angles. The small hornwork and ravelling (outworks) were still in existence at the entrance.
The castle was from time to time used for keeping French, Dutch and Swiss prisoners of war. In 1783-84 came the extensive alterations undertaken according to designs by Captain E Durnford. The gatehouse was fitted up for a barracks and nearly all the remaining monastic buildings were destroyed. The floor of the chapter house was dug up to make cellars for a regimental canteen. The Percy Chapel was converted into a powder magazine and remained so for forty years until restored by the architect, John Dobson. A few years later there were temporary barracks inside with a large ordnance storeroom. On the side of the castle next to the harbour and near the lighthouse was a battery for seven 18 pounders giving protection to shipping in the road. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars there were 32, 18 pounders, eight 12 ponders and 11, 9 pounders.

By 1841 it was `An old irregular work consisting of the ruins of a monastery and a castle with some modern works attached, situated on a projecting point of high land on the north of the entrance to the river Tyne.' The batteries held eighteen guns.

The construction of the north breakwater pier in 1854 by the River Tyne Commissioners led to quarrying on the south side of the castle and, with the driving of a roadway to the pier, removed much of the medieval walling on this side. In 1856 a trench was excavated on the landward side of the castle which altered the character of the approach and large powder magazines were built on the site of the cloister in 1863.

By 1881 Tynemouth had become an extensive work armed with twenty guns, of which six were modern rifled guns. This was the period when the commercial ports were officially recognised as places needing defence and two parts of the country in particular - the Firth of Forth and the Tyne - received much attention. In 1884 the Inspector General of Fortifications considered that the calibre of heavy guns need not exceed 9.2 inches (233mm) and that one of these and two of the medium guns proposed should be mounted in the Spanish Battery in order to obtain greater dispersion of the guns.

By 1893 emplacements for two 6-inch guns (152mm) had been constructed at the castle and the guns mounted on hydro-pneumatic disappearing carriages, replacing the miscellaneous scatter of earthen batteries for muzzle-loading artillery.

 

TWENTIETH-CENTURY DEFENCES

From 1900 until the outbreak of the First World War, two major considerations, technological and political dominated the theory and practice of the nation's Defences. The first was the rationalisation of the types and calibres of coastal defence guns and their mountings. The second was the realisation that Germany and not France were now the main threat to Britain's naval supremacy and national security. This placed greater emphasis upon the defences of Britain's east coast.

The gun batteries controlled by Tynemouth Castle, with those of the Firth of Forth, the Humber estuary and Harwich, had a vital role in protecting the commercial ports of the Northeast and its shipbuilding and armaments industry.

By 1905 the armament of Tynemouth consisted of one 9.2 inch Mark M BL, two 6 inch Mark VII BLs and two 12 pounder QFs. Following the demolition of Villiers's house in 1902, its site was occupied by three concrete buildings sheltered by a high earthen mound. The command block was of a single storey, but was flanked by two higher blocks carrying raised observation posts. The Command Post buildings survived intact until 1980, having been amalgamated within the Coastguard station, which was built on the site piecemeal between about 1933 and about 1945.

This battery was further rehabilitated in 1914 when the Tyne entrance was designated as a Defended Port and the Tyne Fortress was extended well beyond Tynemouth itself. It remained operational and fully manned through World War Two, when the emplacements were given concrete shelters as protection from aerial attack. The guns were removed in 1956.

 

LIGHTHOUSE

Tynemouth had one of the earliest recorded monastic lighthouses. Mention is made in 1581/2 of `a certain order established for the keeping of a continual light in the night season at the east end of the church of Tynemouth Castle as in former times had been for the safeguard of such ships as should pass by that coast.' This was a coal fire in an open brazier on the top of one of the two turrets flanking the east end of the presbytery.
It is probably thanks to its value as a navigational aid - a day mark - that the east end of the church was retained, virtually to its full height, after the dissolution of the priory. However, in 1659 the stairs leading to the top of the turret, where the brazier was, fell down.

There was great demand for another light and in 1664 Sir Edward Villiers had a new tower built and levied charges for its maintenance. This lighthouse was rebuilt in 1775 and the coal brazier was replaced by an oil lamp with rotating reflectors in 1802. The lighthouse was transferred to Trinity House in 1840. When it was demolished in 1898, to be replaced by the lighthouses on St Mary's and Souter Points, nearly 200 carved stones derived from the priory ruins were found to have been built into it.

THE GUN BATTERY

There has been a gun battery at the Priory since the 18th century. This is probably due to its position at the mouth of the Tyne, a strategic position.

In 1893 the battery was brought up to date with the introduction of breech loading guns, and was updated even more extensively during the period of 1902-04. In 1911 an electric light detector was added to sense any use of semepethor lights.

By the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the battery was equipped with one 9.2 inch Mark X gun, which could fire on heavy war ships at a range of 7 miles. They also had two 6 inch Mark VII guns for close defence and examining shipping traffic going into the Tyne. Previously there had been two 12 pounder quickfiring guns but these where removed by 1910.

Under the guns was where the projectiles and charges were kept, these were stored separately and the troops of the 508 Coast Regiment had to wear clean clothes and shoe protectors so that there was no risk of causing sparks, which would lead to disaster. When the guns were ready to be fired they prepared the cartridges before passing them to a room were they were hoisted to the surface.

During World War Two there was an emplacement for a 4-inch Navel Gun, which was used for training the crewmen of merchant ships.