Gateshead: Architecture in a changing English urban landscape

Gateshead has often been overshadowed by Newcastle, its northern neighbour across the River Tyne, yet its history is full of fascinating insights into the way in which a northern industrial town experienced the 19th and 20th centuries.

This book explores this period of great change through a study of the town’s everyday historic landscape. The story of industry includes the legacy of railway engineering and the construction of the Team Valley Trading Estate, a nationally significant example of a state-sponsored attempt to engineer economic change. Gateshead’s growth brought new civic responsibilities and the borough’s public buildings - town hall, libraries, schools and hospitals - illustrate how services were provided. Dominating the landscape, however, is the housing built for the town’s fast-growing population, and this tells a rich story of changing lifestyles, from the highly distinctive ‘Tyneside flats’ of the 19th century to post-war high-rise blocks.

The book concludes with a discussion of the conservation of the historic environment in a new period of great change.