Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tynemouth

TYNEMOUTH, a municipal and parliamentary borough of England, in Northumberland, includes the townships of Chirton, Cullercoates, North Shields, Preston, and Tynemouth. This last, the principal watering-place on this part of the coast, is picturesquely situated on a promontory on the north side of the Tyne at its mouth. It is connected with Newcastle, 8 miles to the west-south-west, by a branch of the North-Eastern Railway; its distance from London is 2731/2 miles by rail. The town has rapidly increased within recent years, and contains many well-built streets, squares, and villas. On the point of the promontory there is a small battery called the Spanish battery, and near it a monument has been erected to Lord Collingwood. Within the grounds to which the gateway of the old castle gives entrance are the ruins of the ancient priory of St Mary and St Oswin the principal remains being those of the church. A pier, half a mile long, serves as a breakwater to the harbour. Among the principal public buildings are the assembly rooms and the aquarium (1872). The municipal buildings of the borough of Tynemouth are situated in North Shields, where are also the custom house, a master mariners home, a seamen's institute, and a sailors home founded by the late duke of Northumberland. Shipbuilding is carried on, and there are rope and sail works. The fish trade is of considerable importance and employs several steam and sailing boats. The population of the municipal and parliamentary borough of Tynemouth (incorporated in 1849; area 4303 acres), divided into the three wards of North Shields, Percy, and Tynemouth, was 38,941 in 1871, and 44,118 in 1881.

Tynemouth was a fortress of the Saxons, and was anciently known as Penbal Crag, "the head of the rampart on the rock." From remains found in 1783 it is supposed to have been a Roman station. The first church was built of wood by Edwin, king of Northumbria, about 625, and was rebuilt in stone by his successor Oswald in 634. The body of Oswin, king of Deira, was brought hither for burial in 651, and on this account Tynemouth came to be in great repute as a place of burial both for royal and ecclesiastical persons. The monastery was repeatedly plundered and burnt by the Danes, especially during the 9th century. After its destruction by Healfdeane in 876 it was rebuilt by Tostig, earl of Northumberland, who endowed it with considerable revenue; but, having been granted in 1074 to the monks of Jarrow, it became a cell of Durham. Malcolm III., king of the Scots, and his son Edward, who were slain in battle at Alnwick on 13th November 1093, were both interred in the monastery. In 1095 Earl Mowbray, having entered into a conspiracy against William Rufus, converted the monastery into a castle, which he strongly fortified. By William Rufus the priory was conferred on St Albans abbey, Hertfordshire. It was surrendered to Henry VIII. on 12th January 1539, and the site and remains were granted by Edward VI. in 1550 to the earl of Warwick, afterwards duke of Northumberland. In 1644 the castle was taken by the Scots under the earl of Leven. The town enjoyed various immunities at a very early period, which were afterwards the subject of some dispute. Edward I. restored to it several free customs of which it had been deprived. Afterwards it received a confirmation of its various former charters by Edward II. and Richard II.