England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Newcastle upon Tyne St Nicholas

The Parish

Newcastle upon Tyne (hereafter simply Newcastle) lies in the extreme south of Northumberland forming part of the border with County Durham, the Tyne performs that boundary function. Newcastle is the major city of the county, its capital and seat of local administration. Newcastle is situated some 276 miles north of London and 117 southeast of Edinburgh and sits on the main A1 road (The Great North Road) which connects the two, modern communications also connect with the main East Coast rail line passing through Newcastle, a major stop and junction for the railway too. Once consisting of a just a short stretch of waterfront and hinterland, the metropolis that is today's Tyneside has engulfed many former villages and become contiguous to the North Sea coast and for almost 5 miles in every other direction. Newcastle's economy grew from its great strength as a port, the exporting of coal from Newcastle being almost a cliché but was certainly true, industries of many kinds grew up around the port, shipbuilding being one of the more obvious. The city also functions as the main market for its region, possesses all the shopping, and white collar businesses for a regional capital. Newcastle was not a city at the time of this transcript, that status being granted only in 1882. St Nicholas church then becoming the cathedral church. Newcastle sits on the banks of Tyne which drains the area to the nearby North Sea, a journey of 12 miles by river. The parish of St Nicholas is sited at around 30 metres above the sea, the banks of the Tyne rising steeply into the city, local heights rise nearby to almost 120 metres within a mile or so. St Nicholas parish formed the heart of the centre of Newcastle, it covered just a few city blocks yet supported over 5,000 parishioners. Newcastle is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area of England.

The Church

St Nicholas' church, the cathedral sits around 250 metres northeast of the Central railway station on the southern side of Neville Street and immediately north of Newcastle's castle. The oldest portions of the present building date back to the late 12th century but they are meagre being revealed mainly in a blocked window, of the early English Gothic period comes the eastern respond to the southern arcade. Besides these remnants the main body of the church represents almost a single build covering the 14th and 15th centuries. Pevsner declares the interior to be dateable to the former century whilst the outside he states is later. The formidable tower (it is 193 feet in height) dominates the cityscape and represents a 15th century Perpendicular completion to the building. Of course work still carries on into modern times with restoration and small enhancements but that marks all major work. The cathedral has a very urban setting, flush with the pavements of the surrounding streets and cramped within commercial properties. These surroundings make it impossible to adequately photograph the southern aspect as there is nowhere one can retreat sufficiently to take it all in. The aspect of that western tower, however is the traditional spot to capture the building if not its impressive length.