Shieldfield is a small district in the east of the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England. It is bordered by the

City Centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

, Heaton, Byker and

Sandyford Sandyford () is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Sandyford Business District makes up much of the suburb and encompasses 4 business parks: Sandyford Business Park, Stillorgan Business Park, Central Park and S ...

History

The name of the district is considered to be a reference to a shelter in the forest clearing, derived from Anglo-Saxon sources. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, King Charles I was permitted to play golf at Shieldfield whilst he was held prisoner at Newcastle by Parliamentarian forces. The building where he would rest, King Charles House, was demolished in 1960 to make way for the new council estate. This is commemorated by a plaque within Shieldfield Green, and reflected in the naming of King Charles Tower adjacent to the site. The area was increasingly urbanised during the 19th century, and by 1881, contained many houses for the employees of nearby factories. The population at this time was 12,826, living in 2,253 units of accommodation (mostly flats). There were also 16 pubs and 19 'beer shops' which permitted patrons to drink on the premises. By the 1930s, there were more than 90 shops in the area. The district largely consists of a council estate, with a few streets of Victorian terraced houses. The former Methodist Church for Shieldfield remains consecrated but is a gallery called Shieldfield Art Works. Over the last decade, developments have seen a number of Halls of Residence constructed to accommodate students from the nearby

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

, and in 2007 Northumbria University opened its new state of the art 'City Campus East' on the site of the former Warner Brothers cinema. An inscribed granite tablet on nearby Falconar Street marks the birthplace of

William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor and phi ...

Transport

Bus services are provided by

Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, branded as Nexus, is an executive body of the North East Combined Authority and is best known for owning and operating the Tyne and Wear Metro. It replaced the Tyneside PTE on 1 April 1974. O ...

under the brand name Nexus, and also by Stagecoach North East. Northern provides train service from the nearby

Manors railway station Manors is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between and . The station serves the Quayside and Shieldfield areas of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed ...

. The A167(M) Central Motorway has a junction with the A193 near Shieldfield.

References

Districts of Newcastle upon Tyne {{TyneandWear-geo-stub