In this week’s blog post, our volunteer Cathryn has been looking at our neighbour, the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas and its links to Newcastle’s maritime past.

In 1298, John de Kirkeby, until recently the Sheriff of Northumberland and Constable of Newcastle Castle, submitted an absolutely massive ‘expenses claim’ for the previous year to his boss – the King of England. They give us a fascinating insight into the kinds of preparations that needed to be made to get a Castle truly “war ready

This week, Daniel is looking for the answer to this rather strange question. He will be looking at how and why Newcastle Castle fell out of use after being such a formidable fortress in the Middle Ages, and how it fell into near ruin and was almost swept away by the tides of progress!

Castles were made up of various different buildings and architectural styles that came together to form what we recognise as a medieval fortress. This week, we will focus upon castle stairs from external entrance steps to the famed spiral staircases.

When was Newcastle Castle Built?

While this may seem like a simple question, the answer is somewhat more complicated. The site that plays host to the castle which gives our city its name has had an interesting and varied history of the years. So let’s have a look back and examine it, leading up to the castle which stands to this day.

If you think Christmas these days is stressful, just imagine a forty day fast followed by twelve days of non-stop Christmas! In this blog we take a look at some of the weird and wonderful customs of a medieval Christmas.

Along with plague, knights and castles, witch hunting is one of those things from history that most tend to have a general impression about. A time in which people, driven by fear and hysteria, accused others for the vague crime of witchcraft. These people were mostly women, falsely accused and put to death. Daniel from our castle team has been taking a look at the witch trials…

For this week’s blog post, Corey has been carrying out research into another of our Castle Characters. This time, we will be looking at one of Newcastle’s most successful late thirteenth century entrepreneurs, Isolde of Pandon.

Isolde of Pandon was the daughter of a Flemish wool merchant and was married to Gilbert, another wool merchant. Wool was one of the most important exports from England during the medieval period and was a real money-spinner for smart merchants. English wool was exported to places such as Flanders and the Low Countries to be turned into fabrics and clothes. The wool trade made Isolde extremely wealthy, so wealthy, in fact, that she was the richest person in Northumberland, having a whopping £86 in 1296!

Adam of Alnwyk is outwardly one of the most outwardly respectable of our Castle Characters. A holy friar of the Dominican order, sworn to poverty, chastity and obedience and living an austere life of religious devotion. But there’s more under the surface, that reveals something of the sordid underbelly of life in medieval Newcastle.

In every pandemic throughout history people have tried all sorts of things to protect themselves or cure themselves from illness. The current pandemic has been little different in that regard. But how did people in the days of the most notorious pandemic, the Black Death, seek to protect themselves? Daniel Fitzgerald, our resident plague doctor, has been hard at work researching some downright bizarre cures for the Plague. He started by looking at the theories behind medieval ideas about health, hygiene and medicine…

Edward II was one of the Kings most intimately acquainted with Newcastle Castle, spending a lot of time here during his reign, whether he was fighting against the Scots or his own barons. He must also be one of the most frequently discussed and least understood of all medieval Kings. He is also sometimes referred to as England’s first gay king. To what extent can we speculate about the sexuality of people in the medieval period, and what were their views on homosexuality anyway?

The pub and all that goes with it is often regarded as a lynch pin of British culture, along with dry humour and queuing (though no one ever queues at a pub). Here in Newcastle, we even have our own unique brand of alcohol in the form of Newcastle Brown Ale.

But drinking and brewing beer is something that has a long and storied history. In this blog post, our team member Daniel Fitzgerald has a look at some aspects of brewing in medieval England. Our Outreach Officer, George Blair has also been looking at brewing some of his very own medieval ale right here at Newcastle Castle, so you can see that we’re enthusiastic about our beer!

In June 1640, the Second Bishop’s War began, a little known conflict that was part of the British Civil Wars of the 1600s. For this week’s blog post, Daniel Fitzgerald has been taking a look at the capture of Newcastle by the Scots during the Bishop’s War and then again in the Civil War, especially the famous siege of 1644, and a small way that has left its mark on Newcastle Castle.

William of Burntoft was a physician living in Newcastle Upon Tyne. In 1312 he was summoned to Newcastle Castle by the command of none other than King Edward II himself! He was to attend the King’s favourite, the handsome Gascon knight Sir Piers Gaveston, who suffered from what sources call a “secret illness”. He was paid over £6 in a few days, an extravagant sum in a day and age when the average wage was only 2 pence per day! Who was William Burntoft, and what did being a medieval physician entail?

For this week’s blog post, George has been carrying on his research into the Normans, this time moving from their origins in a Viking invasion of northern France to their influence over the North East of England, particularly the building of the first castle in Newcastle Upon Tyne. It’s a tale of murder, treachery, rebellion and “harrying” so strap in folks!

For this week’s blog, Corey has been researching the life of the founder of the original “New Castle” upon Tyne, son of William the Conqueror and later Duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose. Read on to find out about the turbulent life of this fascinating and unfortunate man!

For our latest blog post, one of our Castle team, Corey, has been looking into the life of the man who gave Newcastle its castle, Maurice the Engineer, and in doing so, its name. In doing so he’s researched loads of information on medieval masons and their craft.

It all starts somewhere in Scandanavia in the 9th century with a gentleman, or not so gentle Viking called Rollo or Hrolf. Historians are uncertain of his origins and have come up with several differing ones. Written sources in this period are often limited, reading and writing not being essential for everyday life way back when. Most of the information we have on the earlier aspects of his career are from an early medieval historian, Dudo, writing in the 10th century.

Odo and Eustace represent the hundreds of soldiers who served as guards and garrison soldiers at Newcastle Castle over the years. When the Castle was first built in the 1100s, each baron living near Newcastle was required to send a certain number of knights each year to serve as guards for the Castle. Over time, knights were generally replaced with humbler soldiers like Odo and Eustace. Find out more about their life and times here!

The gong farmer had the unpleasant but vital job of cleaning out the garderobes and looking after the midden of the Castle. By the 1500s the Castle was largely deserted and a huge part of the grounds was given over to the midden – a vast pile of poo that would have filled 30 shipping containers!