North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It forms part of the greater

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

conurbation.

North Tyneside Council North Tyneside Council is the local authority of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Tyne and Wear and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of lo ...

is headquartered at

Cobalt Park Cobalt Park is a business park located in North Tyneside, England. It is one of the largest business parks in the United Kingdom. History Initially known as Hadrian Business Park plans for the area were devised the early 1990s by the Tyne and ...

Wallsend Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This f ...

. North Tyneside is bordered by

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

to the west, the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

to the east, the River Tyne to the south and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

to the north. Within its bounds are the towns of

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, Killingworth and

Whitley Bay Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around e ...

, which form a continuously built-up area contiguous with Newcastle.

History

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

of Tynemouth, with the borough of

, part of the borough of

, the

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

Longbenton Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1930s and extended in the 1950s. It is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro st ...

and part of the urban district of

Seaton Valley Seaton Valley is a civil parish at the south eastern corner of Northumberland, consisting of four villages lying between Cramlington, Blyth, Northumberland, Blyth and Whitley Bay. The largest village is Seaton Delaval, while Seaton Sluice is on ...

, all of which were in

Geography

The following places are located in North Tyneside: *

Annitsford Annitsford is a village located in North Tyneside, on the border between Tyne and Wear and Northumberland. The main conurbation of the village falls under the jurisdiction of the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear. History The name of ...

Backworth Backworth is a village in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, about west of Whitley Bay on the north east coast. It lies northeast of Newcastle. Other nearby towns include North Shields to the so ...

* Battle Hill * Benton * Burradon * Camperdown *

Cullercoats Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the ...

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

Earsdon Earsdon is a village in the borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It sits on the border of Northumberland, which it is historically part of, and is approximately two miles from Whitley Bay. The village had a populati ...

Forest Hall Forest Hall is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in the United Kingdom. It is a north eastern suburb of Newcastle and lies six kilometres from the city centre. It borders Killingworth to the north, Holystone to the east and Benton to the ...

Holystone Holystone is a soft and brittle sandstone that was formerly used in the Royal Navy and US Navy for scrubbing and whitening the wooden decks of ships. A variety of origins have been proposed for the term, including that such stones were taken fro ...

Howdon Howdon is a largely residential area in the eastern part of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. It consists of High Howdon and the smaller settlement of East Howdon. Much of the High Howdon area was formerly called Willington prior to post-World W ...

Killingworth Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town in North Tyneside, England. Killingworth was built as a planned town in the 1960s, next to Killingworth Village, which existed for centuries before the Township. Other nearby towns an ...

* Meadow Well *

Monkseaton Monkseaton is an area of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, in the North East of England. Historically in Northumberland, it is in the north-east of the borough, from the North Sea coast and north of the River Tyne at North Shields. to the north of ...

* Moorside * Murton * New York *

* Northumberland Park * Palmersville *

Percy Main Percy Main is a small village absorbed into North Shields, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it is now part of Tyne and Wear. History It is named after the colliery belonging to the Percy family, which was located just sou ...

* Preston * Seaton Burn *

Shiremoor Shiremoor is a village in Tyne and Wear, Northern England. It is in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside and formerly governed under Northumberland. In the 2011 census, it was included in the Tynemouth area of Tyneside. It is near the No ...

* Tynemouth *

* Wellfield *

West Allotment West Allotment is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside. Prior to 1974 it was part of Northumberland. It is located approximately inland of Whitley Bay and approximately north of The Tyne Tunnel. A mile or so north of West Al ...

West Moor Forest Hall is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in the United Kingdom. It is a north eastern suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and lies six kilometres from the city centre. It borders Killingworth to the north, Holystone, Tyne and We ...

Willington Quay Willington Quay is an area in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear in northern England. It is on the north bank of the River Tyne, facing Jarrow, and between Wallsend and North Shields. It is served by the Howdon Metro station in Howdon. ...

North Tyneside is split by the A19: the west of the borough is more urban, and is mostly contiguous with the city of Newcastle. The towns in the east of the borough are more separate from the central part of the Newcastle urban area. Many of the most affluent neighbourhoods in Tyne and Wear are found in the coastal part of the borough.

Administration and elections

Unlike most English districts,

is led by a directly elected mayor; since May 2013, this post has been held by

Norma Redfearn Dame Norma Redfearn is a Labour politician serving as the directly-elected Mayor of North Tyneside. Early life Redfearn was born in Wallsend. The daughter of a shipyard worker, she graduated with a BPhil from Newcastle University. Teaching ...

of the Labour Party. She was most recently elected on 6 May 2021. The council has sixty elected members, three from each of the twenty wards in the borough.

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

are staggered into thirds, with one councillor from each ward elected each year for three consecutive years, and the mayoral election held on the fourth year. Labour has a majority on the council, holding fifty of sixty seats. The

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

have nine councillors, all of whom represent wards on or near the coast. Maureen Madden, representing Howdon Ward, is the only independent councillor; she was elected as a Labour candidate in 2018, but has since left the party. Since the 2021 election, the Liberal Democrats have had no representatives on the council. North Tyneside is part of the North of Tyne combined authority, along with Newcastle and Northumberland, and so additionally elects the Mayor of North of Tyne. Labour's Jamie Driscoll was elected as the first mayor on 2 May 2019, to a four-year term.

Economy

North Tyneside lies in the coalfield that covers the South-East of the historic county of Northumberland. It has traditionally been a centre of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

along with the rest of Tyneside, with for example the

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

shipyard in Wallsend, and export of coal. Today most of the heavy industry has gone, leaving high unemployment in some areas (over the borough, 3.2% compared to 2.7% for the UK). The borough is the 69th most deprived in England, out of 354. However some parts function as wealthy dormitory suburbs of Newcastle, such as Tynemouth. Recent growth has come in the A19 corridor with new industrial estates and retail parks.

Transport

Two key roads serve North Tyneside: *The A19 which leaves the A1 north of Newcastle and runs through the borough and then through the

Tyne Tunnel The Tyne Tunnel is the name given to two 2-lane vehicular toll tunnels under the River Tyne in North East England. Originally opened in 1967 and expanded in 2011, the tunnels connect the town of Jarrow on the south bank of the river with North S ...

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

and towards the South. *The Coast Road (A1058) runs from Newcastle to the coast. For most of its length it is grade-separated. North Tyneside is served by 17 stations on the

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The network opened in ...

on a loop from Newcastle through Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Benton and back to Newcastle. Trains operate at least every 15 minutes, with extra services in the peak hours. Most of the stations serving North Tyneside fall into fare zones B and C. There are no

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the ...

stations in the borough, despite the East Coast Main Line and Blyth and Tyne routes passing through. The nearest National Rail station is

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, which is also served by the Tyne & Wear Metro. North Tyneside has an extensive bus network, with most areas benefiting from direct services to Newcastle. Many areas have direct bus services to Cramlington, Blyth or Morpeth. The principle bus operators in the area are Arriva North East (all areas),

Go North East Go North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. The comp ...

(most areas) and Stagecoach in Newcastle (Benton, Forest Hall, Killingworth and Wallsend). The

Shields Ferry The Shields Ferry operates across the River Tyne, between North Shields and South Shields in Tyne and Wear, England. The service is operated by the Nexus, the Tyne and Wear PTE. Prior to takeover by the PTE in 1972, it was known as the Market ...

links North Shields to South Shields, in South Tyneside. There is an international ferry terminal at

Royal Quays Royal Quays is an area of North Shields, North Tyneside, England, beside the River Tyne. Built on the site of former docks, and containing the pre-existing North Shields International Ferry Terminal, the area was renamed Royal Quays in 1990 and r ...

in North Shields, with a service to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

( IJmuiden).

Places of interest

Segedunum Roman Fort and Baths - geograph

Segedunum Segedunum was a Roman fort at modern-day Wallsend, North Tyneside in North East England. The fort lay at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (in Wallsend) near the banks of the River Tyne, forming the easternmost portion of the wall. It was in use ...

Roman fort is in Wallsend (at the end of Hadrian's wall). *The Stephenson Railway Museum in New York, named after George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson who hailed from Tyneside and lived in

in North Tyneside 1802–1824. *

Tynemouth Castle and Priory Tynemouth Castle is located on a rocky headland (known as Pen Bal Crag), overlooking Tynemouth Pier. The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of Northumbria were buri ...

* North Tyneside includes coastline covering Tynemouth,

and

* Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth * St. Mary's Island in Whitley Bay * North Shields Fish Quay,

Clifford's Fort Clifford's Fort was a defensive gun battery established near the mouth of the River Tyne, Tyne during the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century. It subsequently served as a Submarine Mine, submarine mining depot and survives today as a Scheduled An ...

and the High and Low Lights of North Shields

Media

Radio

* Y Radio

Twinned towns

North Tyneside is twinned with: * Oer-Erkenschwick in Germany *

Halluin Halluin (; nl, Halewijn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Geography It is located at the north of the Métropole Européenne de Lille, on the Belgian border, contiguous with the Belgian town of Menen. Population Tran ...

in France

References

External links

Archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

of North Tyneside (including boroughs of Tynemouth,

and

Urban District are preserved and accessible at

Tyne and Wear Archives Service Tyne and Wear Archives (formerly known as Tyne and Wear Archives Service) is the record office for the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Tyne and Wear Archives preserve documents relating to the area from the 12th to th ...

br>

Wallsend Town
Information regarding the town centre and areas covering Wallsend in North Tyneside can be found here. {{Authority control Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, Metropolitan boroughs of Tyne and Wear