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Gateshead Leasing

Did You Know?

Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear and lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. The town dates back to Roman times, but its history is deep rooted in both the coal and iron industries throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. 

William Hawks, originally a blacksmith, started  a business in Gateshead in 1747, working with the iron brought to the Tyne. His company, Hawks and Co. eventually became one of the biggest iron businesses in the North, producing anchors, chains and other products to meet growing demand.

Sir Joseph Swan lived at Underhills, Kells Lane from 1869–83, where his experiments led to the invention of the electric light bulb. The house was the first in the world to be wired for domestic electric light.

Gateshead Quays is home to two of the most significant cultural venues in England; Sage Gateshead, a landmark music venue designed by famous architects Foster + Partners (who designed the dome of the Reichstag in Berlin) and BALTIC, a contemporary art gallery which became the first non-Tate venue outside of London to host the Turner Prize in 2011.

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a fascinating bridge that spans the River Tyne in a city in the northeast of England Called Newcastle Upon Tyne. It’s the largest city in the region and the 6th largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom.

In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, the County Borough of Gateshead was merged with the urban districts of Felling, Whickham, Blaydon and Ryton and part of the rural district of Chester-le-Street to create the much larger Metropolitan Borough.

Gateshead is home to the MetroCentre, the largest shopping mall in the UK until 2008; and the Team Valley Trading Estate, once the largest and still one of the larger purpose-built commercial estates in the UK.

During medieval times Gateshead was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durham. At this time the area was largely forest with some agricultural land. The forest was the subject of Gateshead's first charter, granted in the 12th century by Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham. An alternative spelling may be "Gatishevede", as seen in a legal record, dated 1430

If you had spoken to the factory owner, Mr Stonehouse, he would have told you how, in the 1880s he was an apprentice in a Midlands factory where over two hundred men were employed making clay pipes. The demand was so great that this factory was only one of many throughout the country. So it was that Mr Stonehouse moved from the Midlands and set up his own factory in King William Street in Gateshead.

In 1068, Malcolm III of Scotland marched across the Scottish border to challenge the authority of William the Conqueror. Malcolm, accompanied by native insurgents and foreign supporters, was met by William's men in the area of Sheriff Hill and was decisively beaten. In the 13th century, a road through Gateshead Fell became the main trade route between Durham and Newcastle and as its importance grew, two public houses – the Old Cannon and The Three Tuns, were built along with a small number of houses.