Location The Black Gate
Colour of Route Blue
Historical Comments Use your compass and when you leave the front gate of St Nicholas Cathedral follow a bearing of 180 and walk 80 metres south along St Nicholas’ Street and you’ll spot a medieval building on your left.
This is the Black Gate, it once stood as the entrance to the formidable Castle Keep. This 13th-century barbican repelled invaders intent on reaching the Castle.
These days, the Gate is a picturesque spot in the heart of old Newcastle. But a darker secret from the city’s past hides below.
What is the Black Gate?
The Norman castle was built in 1167 and the the Black Gate started in 1247. This defensive gateway was the North Gate of the castle . The signs of a portcullis remain. But so does the ghost of a Cavalier who fell foul of the Lord, because according to local legends the cavalier, called Matty Groves was rather too friendly with the Duke of Newcastle’s wife.
As the town grew and the city walls extended the Black Gate became a “roofless wreck” used as a rubbish dump.
However in 1618 one of King James I’s courtiers a man called Patrick Black who gave the building its name bought the building and added the second and third floors to increase the available living space. He even turned a guard room on the ground floor into a tavern.
Some people believe it got the name ‘Black Gate’ for a darker reason. One legend tells that the drawbridge might be pulled up while people were still on it. The ‘black’ referred to their blood..
Video to follow
Maths Activity Identify the shapes which make up the Black gate, it was built in three stages and progressed from a cubic shape and developed into a more rounded shape.