This map shows the underground rivers of Newcastle and it is clear to see that the area of Shieldfield is almost completely surrounded: Pandon Burn to the West, Ouseburn to the East and Sandyford Burn to the North.
Although they are underground now, the rivers once ran through deep-sided valleys, and combined with the steep incline up from the Tyne this means that the Shieldfield area would have been situated on a plateau. We know that the remains of a 17th century fort exist in the Albert Street area, and it is possible that the site was chosen for these natural defenses.
Geological mapping is unable to date the in-filling of the mouth of Pandon burn, but it is believed to have happened in the 13th century. However the filling of the upper part of the dene (which borders Shieldfield) is known to have happened gradually throughout the 19th century as part of the expansion of Newcastle city centre and developments in industry (Dearman et al 1977).
In 1812 the 'New Bridge' was built across Pandon burn to link the city centre with Shieldfield and the Ouseburn area via 'Newbridge' street. This bridge was around 20 meters below the current ground level and was buried as the dene was filled in, which brought the land almost level with land on either side of it in the city centre and on the Shieldfield 'plateau', significantly reducing the natural separation of Shieldfield from Newcastle.
This illustration from 1821 shows Pandon Dene before it was filled. It is easy to see that the dene gives Shieldfield a sense of distance from the city centre, and it is reasonable to argue that this 'distance' has been maintained to a certain extent through the manmade boundaries that are explored in the 'New boundaries' page. The triple arched bridge at the far end is the original Barras Bridge, which was also buried as the dene was filled.
