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Blackfriars is a restored 13C friary taking its name from the Dominican order of 'Black Friars' (from their black habits and cowls). They were established on this site by 1250, before the Town Walls were built and served the town and its visitors for 300 years. It is now one of the oldest buildings in Newcastle and many of the old details remain. In the far right-hand corner of the courtyard (visible on the full size image) there is a curiously shaped arch which was the entrance to the lavatorium, where the friars washed before meals.
Following the Dissolution in 1539, the church was demolished (see the remains of the columns in the foreground grass) and the southern range of buildings shown here around the cloister garth were used by the town's guilds or craftsmen for meeting rooms and housing the poor. This use by the Freemen of Newcastle continued for some 400 years but their wealth and power eventually waned and the site was derelict in 1950. Threatened with demolition in 1974, a decision was made to restore the buildings and was opened in 1981 as a heritage centre with exhibitions, tourist information, an award-winning restaurant (appropriately situated in the friar's old ground floor refectory, directly behind the tree) and craft workshops.
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Newcastle Libraries have an old print of the monastery buildings here Link