This page seeks to explore how the area's manmade borders of roads and rail have shaped the area.
In the 'Topographic Boundaries' page it is explained that Newbridge Street was constructed in 1812 along with the original 'New bridge'. Previous to this there were little to no inhabitants in the area, and its identity was as farmland that belonged to the city (since 1549) but that lay outside of the city walls. The new bridge provided a link with the area and as the population of Newcastle grew and expanded beyond the city walls, Shieldfield became an area for the wealthy, with impressive villas being built, pleasure gardens and mills in the dene, and even a street called 'pleasant row'.
The image below is a section from Thomas Oliver's 1830 plan of Newcastle. Ridley's villas have by now been built along NewBridge Street and there are houses along Pleasant Row and around the green. The New Bridge is a level road bridge leading into town and further north evidence of industry moving into the area can be seen in the brick yards and tile sheds. The old border marked by the stones of 1648 is still in place but an area of industry has grown just beyond it where brick yards, mills (one of which is a union mill) and warehouses are all evident. Many of the cart tracks and footpaths appear to have been widened by now and the 'cart road to Sandyford' that runs north from Shieldfield green to Lambert's leap has become more prominent. This later becomes Shield Street, as can be seen in the street plan.
(click on the images to enlarge)
Halfway up the track that becomes Shield Street is a foot path that leads down into the dene and up the other side through some gardens to the already present Ellison Place. On the Ordnance Survey map from 1861 (below) this becomes Camden street, and as Pandon Dene is almost fully filled in at this point it is almost another level crossing into the city centre.
The Newbridge Street - Tynemouth railway line opened in 1864 and caused a separation of the area north of Newbridge Street from the Manors area to the south. Argyle street, which was the main road into Shieldfield before the building of the New Bridge in 1812, is now a bridge over the railway, which is likely to increase the feeling that they are separate areas. On the 1770 map the southern entrance to Shieldfield is at the gate of the field which lies approximately at the junction of Argyle and Simpson street, so did the creation of Newbridge street bring the southern edge further south? It could be argued both ways. 'Yes' because it provides and stopping point on the route south, cuts west to east between the town centre and the Ouseburn, and is and always has been a busy road as it was one of the main roads to and from the city (making it harder for the two sides of the road to be easily linked). 'No' because although the housing of Shieldfield extends down to this point and the Ridley Villas were among the first buildings in the area, they face away from Shieldfield green and so have the effect of 'looking the other way' and not being included in the community of Shieldfield which throughout its redevelopments has always been centered around the green.
Also on the map above we can see that Shieldfield has become much more populated, with only a few fields to the North and East still undeveloped. The Border Stones have become an 'undefined' ward boundary, and another ward boundary now runs southwards from Lambert's Leap down the western side of North Shieldfield to what remains of the dene. It is also possible to make out another boundary line further east, following Sandyford burn. This combination of borders, which all meet at Lambert's Leap, create an area that is dissected by administrative boundaries, and is even more evident when the last fields of Shieldfield are built on and consequently lie in a different ward to the rest of the area as is shown on the 1878 plan of Newcastle (below).
It is clear from the maps above, which are in chronological order, that Pandon Dene has always been a border between shieldfield and Newcastle city centre. First it was a deep valley and river, then a railway and now a motorway. But how would the feeling of the border change with each signifier? Which would create a larger feeling of distance? A valley is less dangerous to cross than a railway or motorway, but would it have felt that way? At the time of the railway there were level bridges at Newbridge street and Camden Street, so the route into town would have felt relatively unbroken, but once the motorway was built these became raised foot bridges - would this increase the feeling of distance? Would the University's new campus, another new signifier of the western boundary, increase or decrease the feeling of distance? This is explored in 'Dissolving Boundaries?'
