Tynemouth Things to Do

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Tynemouth beach is wide with rocks, cliffs and dunes. Be careful about the tides and consult a time table for tides. 10 minute walk from Cullercoats Metro station (north) and Tynemouth Metro station (south). In the late 18th century, sea-bathing became fashionable in Tynemouth. King Edward's Bay and Tynemouth Longsands are very popular with locals and tourists alike. Tynemouth is also a surfing championship venue. It is as best as it can get. Love this beach.

If you come to Tynemouth visiting the old ruins of the Castle and Priory is almost a must. If you have a keen interest in History and ruins this place is a great place to study. If you're not that interested watching ruins from a distance will do because you do have to pay admission. Here's some info. about the place.

Why are there only ruins left?

In 800 the Danes plundered Tynemouth Priory, and afterwards the monks strengthened the fortifications sufficiently to prevent the Danes from succeeding when they attacked again in 832. However, in 865 the church and monastery were destroyed by the Danes. At the same time, the nuns of St Hilda, who had come there for safety, were massacred. The priory was again plundered by the Danes in 870.

The priory was destroyed by the Danes in 875.

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Once you've visited the Priory you can go down to the right side and find the Pier which will take you out into the sea. If there's heavy sea the Pier will be closed but it is at most times a safe place and a free spot to go and visit.

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The remains of Tynemouth Priory rise up from a rocky headland that stands at the mouth of the River Tyne. The remote coastal location of these attractive ruins, with a seaward aspect to one side, and the presence of a castle complex landward, gave to the priory a genuine defensive security simultaneously allied with the sense of monastic isolation.

The prominent headland was home to a much earlier Christian monastery, and is the resting-place of St Oswin, King of Deira, buried there in AD651. This monastery was destroyed by Danish sea raiders in 875. Soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066, the monastery was refounded through the generosity of Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, in 1085, as a Benedictine daughter-house of St Albans Abbey. In addition, the Earl built a castle on the site in 1095, where he was besieged for over two months during a rebellion against William II (1087-1100). He was captured, imprisoned for a long period, and finally permitted to live out the rest of his life in peaceful seclusion as a monk at St Albans.

Tynemouth Priory took over two hundred years for completion and was eventually encompassed by the outer defences of the nearby castle; in fact, this circuit of walls enclosed the entire headland. The priory, in addition to attending to its own duties and functions, was also responsible for the upkeep of both castle and garrison, a costly drain on its resources. This was offset by the accumulated wealth acquired by the monastery from their ownership of various local coal industries.

The priory church is the real attraction of the ruin, its east end still standing to a good height. It may well have been left intact at the Dissolution because of its prominence as a coastal landmark for shipping. In addition, it also fulfilled the role of lighthouse with a blazing coal brazier glowing out from one of the end wall towers; an ancient duty carried on down the centuries by the priory monks. This role ended in 1659 when stairs in the tower collapsed and were not replaced. A new purpose-built lighthouse was constructed nearby.

Rising to an impressive 73ft, the remaining walls of the east end of the church incorporate some very fine details, tall lancet windows, blind arcading inset with recesses and a lovely elongated oval window provide tantalising glimpses of the glory that was. At the furthest point of the east end is a tiny 15 th century chapel that may have been a private chantry of the Percy family, or perhaps a Lady Chapel. Despite being restored in the mid 19 th century, it retains a very attractive interior including elaborate rib vaulting and 33 carved roof bosses described in some detail on site. The west front incorporates some of the elaborate decoration and detail that became an additional feature of the priory's 13 th century rebuilding programme.

After the dissolution of the priory in 1539, Henry VIII refortified the headland, and the site remained as a military stronghold well into the 1960's. When the grounds were taken into the care of the state, most of the later buildings were removed to reveal the earlier medieval stonework, and this is how it is presented today, gaunt and disjointed, but as monastic ruins go, hugely satisfying.

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The local market is always busy with plenty to pick up, found in the metro station, on both sides
Tynemouth market is a mix of antiques, crafts, bric-a-brac, jewellery and collectables alongside the more'general' market stalls and a great atmosphere.

Entry to Tynemouth market is free.

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A short distance away either a long walk or the bus. reached between the tides via a short causeway from the car park, St. Mary's has all the fascination of a miniature, part-time island.
Visitors can climb the 137 steps inside the tower to the lantern room to enjoy spectacular views along the North East coast of England. If you cannot manage the steps, a live video facility allows you to experience the same panorama at ground level.

Other exhibits explain the history of the lighthouse and provide insights about the wildlife outside. The small, yet important Nature Reserve comprises rock pools, a beach, freshwater ponds and clifftop grassland and provides habitats for a rich variety of marine life and spectacular flights of resident and migrating seabirds and waders...

Getting there

The lighthouse is situated two miles north of Whitley Bay town centre, just off the A193 on the way to Blyth. Whitley Bay is signposted from the A19 and can also be easlily reached from Newcastle along the A1058.

By Public Transport

The Metro system can take you as far as Whitley Bay where you can continue by bus from Park Avenue. The 308 'Blyth' bus travels every 15 minutes from Newcastle, the 301 every 30 minutes and the 310 every hour. You should alight at Whitley Bay Cemetery and then a walk of 15 minutes will take you along the promenade and across the causeway to the island.

Parking

There are two large, pay and display car parks, able to accomomdate coaches, on the mainland. One of the car parks has a public toilet.

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Tyne Cyclist and Pedestrian Tunnel was Britain's first purpose-built cycling tunnel. It runs under the River Tyne between Howdon and Jarrow, and was opened in 1951, heralded as a contribution to the Festival of Britain. The original cost was £833,000 And was used by 20,000 people a day.It actually consists of two tunnels running in parallel, one for pedestrian use with a 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) diameter, and a larger 12 ft (3.7 m) diameter tunnel for pedal cyclists. Both tunnels are 900 ft (270 m) in length, and lie 40 ft (12.2 m) below the river bed.[1] The tunnels are nearly 60 years old and are Grade II listed buildings.

At each end, the tunnels are connected to surface buildings by two escalators and a lift. The Waygood-Otis escalators have 306 wooden steps each, and are the original models from 1951. At the time of construction, they were the highest single-rise escalators in the world, with a vertical rise of 85 ft (26 m) and a length of 200 ft (61 m). (In 1992 escalators with a higher vertical rise of 90 ft (27.4 m) and 197 ft (60 m) in length were constructed at Angel station on the London Underground.) The Tyne Tunnel escalators remain the longest wooden escalators in the world.

Way below the priory, accessed by a set of steps, is a picturesque sandy cove...not miles and miles of sand like beaches further north, but how many beaches have an enormous ruined priory standing guard over them? Get some fish and chips from the local chippy and sit on the sand feeding the seagulls.

You'd think the water would be sheltered by the headland, but when I braved the cold quite a few years ago, the sea was anything but calm.