Newcastle Town Walls

Substantial fragments of the medieval city wall ring the centre

Substantial remains of Newcastle's medieval defensive wall survive around the western and northern edges of the city centre. The best-preserved sections run along the back of Stowell Street (Chinatown) and West Walls, where you can still see the wall walk and several towers — Heber Tower, Morden Tower, and the Half Moon Battery in particular.

A self-guided walk along the surviving sections takes about an hour and gives a strong sense of the medieval city's footprint. Most of the towers are open seasonally; the Morden Tower has hosted poetry readings since 1964.

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When the Newcastle town wall was built in the 13th and 14th centuries it was three kilometres long, with 17 towers and six gates, and rivalled the walls of York. About a third of the masonry survives — fragments behind Chinatown, behind the Old Assembly Rooms, and along the West Road — and you can still walk along sections.

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