Dean Street – Down in the Dene
Dialect words
Dene (Noun) a steep wooded valley
Burn (noun) a small river
Dene street was built in the “dene” of the Lort Burn. Traffic arriving across the old Tyne Bridge previously headed up the Side towards Newgate Street or east up Akenside Hill towards Pilgrim Street
When Dean Street was completed by David Stephenson in 1787 it was linked to the bridge and became one of Newcastle’s principal streets.
The ‘dene’ of the Lort Burn was one of Newcastle’s most prominent natural features. Cutting through the landscape towards the Tyne, it created an obstacle for people coming into the city and supplemented the eastern defences of the Castle
The dene flowed north-south and was crossed by a High Bridge, still remembered in a street of that name today.
The valley was filled in and covered over time, allowing architect David Stephenson to build Dean Street (Dene Street) along its course in 1787. Further infilling took place in the 1830s and nothing now remains. The only clues are some steeply ascending steps on opposite sides of lower Dean Street marking the site of Nether Bridge or Low Bridge that crossed the burn here.
The Lort Burn entered the Tyne at Sandhill where we are going next more or less flowing down the eastern edge of the rapidly descending street called the side with the ascending Akenside Hill to the east, marking the opposing bank of its valley. The Lort finally emptied into the Tyne at Sandhill east of the Guildhall almost directly below the present Tyne Bridge.
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