Hebrews 12:14 (KJV)

From Wiki:

The headland towering over the mouth of the Tyne has been settled since the Iron Age. The Romans occupied it. In the 7th century a monastery was built there and later fortified. The headland was known as PEN BAL CRAG

The place where now stands the Monastery of Tynemouth was anciently called by the Saxons Benebalcrag

— Leland at the time of Henry VIII

The monastery was sacked by the Danes in 800, rebuilt, destroyed again in 875 but by 1083 was again operational.^[3]

Three kings are reputed to have been buried within the monastery – Oswin – King of Deira (651); Osred II – King of Northumbria (792) and Malcolm III- King of Scotland (1093). Three crowns still adorn the North Tyneside coat of arms. (North Tyneside Council 1990).

The queens of Edward I and Edward II stayed in the Priory and Castle while their husbands were campaigning in Scotland. King Edward III considered it to be one of the strongest castles in the Northern Marches. After Bannockburn in 1314, Edward II fled from Tynemouth by ship.

A village had long been established in the shelter of the fortified Priory and around 1325 the then Prior built a port for fishing and trading. This led to a dispute between Tynemouth and the more powerful Newcastle over shipping rights on the Tyne which continued for centuries.

The five of us were able to sit at the same breakfast table that we had the previous morning. I opted for eggs Benedict but found that there was a little too much hollandaise sauce for my taste. One of the lifts was out of order, delaying progress to and from the hotel rooms to the amusement and frustration of the guests due to it stopping randomly at some floors and not at others. This meant that we set off for Tynemouth more than half an hour later than we had intended. The concierge shuffled the cars around on the car park and parked mine next to the Ferrari that is always parked outside the hotel.

On arrival at Tynemouth, we were lucky to find two convenient car parking spaces. Once the cars had been parked we went for a walk past the Spanish Battery and the Life Brigade Watch House before making our way into town to find a tea-shop. Mr C’s first choice of tea-shop, which was the last one we came across, proved to be disappointing. As we arrived, a table became free and we made our way to sit down at it. Whilst we were making ourselves comfortable the waiter told us to go away for five minutes whilst he reset the table. After such a rude reception there was no way I was going back and the others felt the same. We made our way back along the street and entered a small (almost hidden) tea-shop that I had spotted earlier. It was very full and busy but we were squeezed onto a table and made very welcome.

Our next port of call was Tynemouth Castle and Priory which we all enjoyed for different reasons. By the time we had finished exploring the grounds it was time for a late lunch. We chose a cafe near to the seafront and sat in a corner table overlooking the castle remains. We lingered for quite some time, talking about history, philosophy and the current migrant crisis including the view that many migrants probably have no intention of observing the culture of the countries that they are migrating to. Eventually it was time for my brother and his fiancée to return home and for us to make our way back to the Vermont.

As we arrived back in Newcastle the traffic was queued up for a long way past St Nicholas’ Cathedral and we could see lots of policeman, police cars and an ambulance directly opposite the Cathedral.  We struggled to find a restaurant that was open on a Sunday evening, but eventually settled on Cafe Rouge where we had an enjoyable meal. Whilst walking back  to the hotel after dinner, we noticed another police car and ambulance in the same spot as we had seen the earlier incident.

Back at the Vermont, we noticed a lot of security guards outside its Livello Cocktail bar area. One of the security guards got into the hotel lift with us and we got chatting to him. He told as that the security guards had been drafted in because there was a private function taking place in the Cocktail bar. We had a nightcap in the hotel lounge area and arranged to have breakfast at an earlier time the next morning.

After an unexpected summer day in Tynemouth it was time to say goodbye to both Newcastle and Tynemouth and journey to our next destination.

Because of their strategic position commanding the approaches to the river mouth, the artillery defences of Tynemouth remained in use between the mid-16th and mid-20th centuries. Like all English coastal defences, they were not always adequately armed, supplied or manned, being made ready or updated only when conflict was imminent.

From about 1881, however, Tynemouth was redeveloped as part of a modernized system of coastal defences to protect the Tyne and its approaches. A line of gun positions, constructed between 1891 and 1905, remains at the tip of the headland. These were manned for defence and training until the new science of guided rocketry brought an end to all coastal artillery in the British Army in 1956.*

*From the Tynemouth Priory and Castle English Heritage Guidebook.

More ‘Round’ can be found in the gallery.

The Percy Chantry was built in the 15th-century and is the only part of the priory church to survive complete, although what we see today is the product of renovations. The Chantry has an intricate ceiling composed of intersecting ribs with 33 carved bosses.

The new coastguard station was built in 1980 and closed in 2001 due to advancing technology.  BBC News reporting 28th September 2001:

Coastguard responsibilities for the North East pass to Humberside on Friday with the closure of the Tyne Tees station at Tynemouth.

New digital equipment has been installed at a station in Bridlington, which will monitor the waters from Berwick to the Humber estuary.

The closure is the third to take place as part of a national restructuring.

Objectors have said the closure could put lives at risk, but Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) officials said the new equipment will improve communcations.

Tynemouth Station is a familiar site to local people, perched on cliff tops next to the ancient Tynemouth Priory.

The site of Tynemouth Castle an Priory is rich in history:

The dramatic headland at Tynemouth is a natural fortress commanding the entrance to the river Tyne, the gateway to Newcastle. Connected to the mainland only by a narrow neck of rock and defined by tall cliffs, Tynemouth headland was virtually unassailable before the development of modern guns and has been occupied intermittently, as both a stronghold and a place of worship, for more that 2.000 years.

Remains of an Iron Age settlement have been discovered here but the first written record of occupation dates from the eighth century, when a monastic community was established. its wooden buildings were destroyed during the Viking invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries. The medieval ruins visible today belong to a second monastery, Tynemouth Priory, founded in the late 11th century and dedicated to St Oswine (d.651), whose body was preserved here in a rich shrine. King Henry VIII suppressed the priory in 1539 but the church nave remained in parish use until the late 17th century.

Because of its strategic value in protecting the mouth of the Tyne, the headland was fortified until the 1950s. A gatehouse, which still exists, was built as part of the defence in the 14th century. Over the centuries, the defences were adapted and added to – a barracks, governor’s house and a spectacular lighthouse were all built in the 17th century. These later bulidings have now gone, although 19th- and 20th century gun emplacements remain, a lasting reminder of the military importance of Tynemouth.*

* Information from the English Heritage Tynemouth Priory and Castle handbook.