tiles


Note:  Do not rely on this information. It is very old.

Newcastleon Tyne

Newcastle-on-Tyne stands on the north bank of the Tyne, 8 miles from its mouth. The "new castle" from which it takes its name was built between 1172 and 1177 on the site of the older one erected by Robert, son of William I. The Blackgate still remains, and the Keep is perhaps the finest specimen of secular Norman in England. The germ of Newcastle was the Roman Pons Aelii. During Saxon and early Norman times the town was ecclesiastical, and was known as Monk-Chester. It was incorporated by Henry II., and in 1400 was given the privileges of a county. The corporation was remodelled in 1835, and the government is now in the hands of a mayor, 16 aldermen, and 48 town-councillors. The chief buildings of interest, besides the castle, are the cathedral of St Nicholas (chiefly Decorated), with a Perpendicular lantern tower; St. Andrew's church (11th century); St. John's church (14th century), with an ancient font; and, among more modern structures, the Corporation buildings, the Moot Hall, and Allen's endowed schools. Newcastle was largely rebuilt by Richard Grainger, one of the citizens, who died in 1861. Among educational and benevolent institutions are the Colleges of Medicine and Science, the Free Grammar School, the Royal Infirmary, the Northern Counties Orphan Institution, etc. The chief industries of the place are the coal trade, ship-building, and the making of engines of all kinds, cannon, carriages, glass, bricks, and tiles. At, Lord Armstrong's works at Elswick ironclads are also constructed. Newcastle is connected with Gateshead, on the south bank of the river, by the High Level bridge, designed chiefly by Robert Stephenson, the swing bridge, and the Redheugh suspension

New-Chwang, a Chinese city, stands on the river Liao, in Manchuria, 120 miles east of Mukden. Ying-tzu, lower down the Liao, is really the treaty-port, as vessels are not able to get up so high as New-chwang. This port, which is closed by ice during the winter, formerly imported large quantities of opium; it now chiefly takes in manufactured goods, beans and silk being the chief exports. A large salt industry is carried on in the neighbourhood.