Originally, the Black Gate was the 13th Century entrance to the castle which gave the town its name. In March 2015, after a £1.67m refurbishment of the Black Gate and Castle Keep, it became the gateway to 'Old Newcastle' – the location from which the city developed. The 'Old Newcastle' project aims to attract more visitors to the concentration of history around the Black Gate, St Nicholas Cathedral and Castle Keep, which itself is built on top of the Roman fort of Pons Aelius
NZ2563 : Pons Aelius 'Roman Altar', Castle Keep. The Black Gate now has an external lift, clad in wood, which allows access to three levels of the building, a reception area, shop and toilets.
A whole floor is dedicated to the stories of people who lived and worked in the Black Gate and Castle Garth. Another floor is designed as a learning suite for schools and community groups. It is named the Harbottle suite, in honour of Barbara Harbottle, who died in 2012. As the first county archaeologist for Tyne and Wear, she was responsible for overseeing the maintenance of the Black Gate and the Keep. She had led digs in the city at Blackfriars, and under the railway arches at Castle Garth, where hundreds of Anglo-Saxon burials were found amid the ruins of the Roman fort
NZ2563 : Remains of church tower below railway arch at Castle Keep. She also excavated the ditch in front of the Black Gate, which had been used as a rubbish dump in the 17th Century.
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