The Freemen have exercised their right to graze cows on the Moor from time immemorial, the right to do so having originated prior to the Norman Conquest. The Newcastle upon Tyne Town Moor Act 1988 states that the Stewards Committee shall decide the number of cows, not exceeding 800, which may be grazed. This number is dependent on the conditions and capacity of the areas available for grazing from year to year. In 2021 circa 600 cattle were grazed on the Town Moors.

History of the Town Moor

In the Middle Ages all settlements had common land where cattle could be grazed. Newcastle had the Town Moor, and it is likely that Freemen of the town had grazing rights before the Norman Conquest. It is also likely that ownership of the Moor was granted to the Freemen by King John in the early thirteenth century,

Grazing

Freemen had the right to graze two milch cows (cows which were milked) and the Moor had a good covering of oak trees. As Newcastle grew and industry developed, most of the trees were removed with the timber being used in buildings, collieries and ships.

The cattle were always brought within the City walls at night. Cattle rustling was rife and Scottish Border Reivers sometimes came as far south as Newcastle. The English ones returned the favour by reaching Edinburgh from time to time.

In the sixteenth century the Freemen appointed a manager known as a viewer to oversee the Freemen’s grazing rights. There were also grassmen who looked after the pasture and later the Town Neatherd and his four assistants brought the cattle onto the Moor in the morning and returned them to their owners within the town walls at night.

In later years when Freemen no longer wanted to own their own cattle and keep them in their houses, much of the grazing was let to local farmers who paid grazing fees to the Freemen who oversaw the process.

There was a bitter dispute in 1771 between the Town Corporation and the Freemen (despite the Corporation members being Freemen) over control of the Moor. This was resolved by an Act of Parliament in 1774 which said that the Corporation owned the soil of the Town Moor but the Freemen owned the herbage or grazing rights. It also limited the amount of the Moor that could be let or built on. The legislation was updated by the Town Moor Act of 1988 which confirms the ownership and also sets out how the Freemen should administer their rights.

The upshot is that so long as the Freemen graze cattle on the Moor, they continue to manage it and it remains an open space.

Mining

In 1239, King Henry lll gave permission for coal to be mined on the Leazes Moor. Mining started with Bell Pits, basically holes in the ground. Many of the smaller undulations on the Moor are spoil heaps from these pits. The coal was sold to the people of Newcastle

As coal mining became more sophisticated, mine shafts were sunk and tunnels dug. There were collieries around the Moor, in particular a substantial one opened at Spital Tongues in 1835. The coal wasn’t all used in Newcastle by this time and in around 1840 the Victoria Tunnel was built under the Moor and the town centre to take coal to the Ouseburn to be shipped elsewhere.

Eventually the mines were worked out although there was open cast mining on the Moor from 1944–1947.

Gatherings

Unsurprisingly the Moor has been used over the years by the people of Newcastle for gatherings and meetings. In the Middle Ages there were three large fairs each year that were both cattle markets and entertainment.

For many years public executions were held on the Moor and people saw these as entertainment. Prisoners were taken from Newgate Prison along Gallowgate to the gallows site adjacent to what is now Barrack Road. As theft was a capital offence there were many executions, the last public one in Newcastle being in 1844

On a lighter note there was horse racing on the Moor from 1721. The track was at the north end of the Moor and in 1800 a grandstand was built at what is now the junction of Grandstand Road and Kenton Lane. Race Week was eventually fixed as the last week in June with the feature race being the Northumberland Plate also known as Pitmen’s Derby. Thousands of people attended and as well as the racing there was gambling, drinking, stalls and sideshows.

Unfortunately the drinking and disorder got out of hand and in 1882 the meeting was moved to High Gosforth Park where more control could be exercised and entrance fees could be charged. The race meeting was replaced by a Temperance Festival which became known as the Hoppings.

In the nineteenth century the Moor was the location of huge political meetings where people called for more parliamentary representation and meetings of striking miners. These were held with the agreement of the Town Council who presumably felt that they were better held on the Moor than in town.

Parks and Exhibitions

In 1870, an Act of Parliament was passed which allowed the Council and the Freemen to develop parks on the Moor. The first was Leazes Park in 1873 and this was the first public park in Newcastle. The Brandling Park followed in 1878 then the Exhibition Park. This was developed for the Royal Mining, Engineering and Industrial Exhibition of 1887. The exhibition was a huge success, visited by more than two million people. It featured exhibits from all the North East’s great industrial concerns.

Another great exhibition was held in the park in 1929; the North East Coast Exhibition. This again showcased the area’s industries and commercial activities but in more difficult economic times. Newcastle Brewery celebrated by producing Exhibition Ale. There were three “Palaces“ built, for Industries, Engineering and Arts The Palace of Arts is the only one to survive. It has had a number of uses over the years but is now home to the Wylam Brewery.

Millions of people attended but two days after the Exhibition closed, the Wall Street stock-market crashed triggering the great recession.

Other Buildings on the Moor

The Moor has been home to a number of hospitals over the years. In 1882 a smallpox hospital was opened on the southern side of Grandstand Road It had 170 beds and was intended to take the strain off the Fever Hospital in the town and isolate patients. It continued to treat other infectious diseases over the years including scarlet fever and diphtheria and was finally demolished in 1957.

The Fleming Memorial Hospital for Sick Children was opened in 1888 on the eastern edge of the Moor and the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital opened in the same area in 1939. There was also the Hospital for Incurables on Hunters Moor. All of these are long gone but one remains; the Royal Victoria Infirmary. This hospital was proposed to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It was built on what was part of Castle Leazes and completed in 1906, after the death of the Queen. It has of course expanded considerably since then.

As the need has arisen there has been building on the Moor; Fenham Barracks, the Blood Transfusion Centre, the BBC and St James Park to name a few. Where rent is paid then the money that the Freemen receive is spent maintaining the Moor and for other charitable purposes. Roads have expanded with the central motorway cutting a swathe across the across the Moor in 1972. Overall, the Moor isn’t quite as big as it was; but it’s still very big.