Ouseburn, Newcastle
The Ship Inn, Ouseburn
Last Updated:
23 Oct 2024
Ouseburn, Newcastle
This is a
Pub
54.975488, -1.592013
Founded in
Current status is
Extant
Designer (if known):
Now a vegan pub and locally listed
This is the Ship Inn, a lush little vegan haunt by the Cluny. It was originally the “top ship” given the Tyne Bar previously had a very similar name - known as the “bottom ship”.
Now the name has been attached to this site for at least 170 years. Back in the 1850s the pub was part of a tenement row, pinned between tons of industry. It’ll have been an intimidating, tall converted brick dwelling dating to at least the 1840s. The first reference I can find is from 1856, when the houses adjoining were all sold off by auction within. They were tenements with large rooms and attics, perhaps built for the iron workers over the burn.
Many of these old buildings were cleared when the Byker Bridge was constructed in 1878. As a result, it will have been rebuilt just after into the current iteration I reckon. It was around this time the pub became popular with workers for the nearby abattoir, but bare in mind this was basically a village in the 1890s. Crawfords Bridge was the centre of a small community with mills and potteries all across the burn. The Ship certainly underpinned village life, facilitating bowls and quoits matches.
As you can see it was originally part of a larger terrace of housing and commercial premises. They were all cleared in the 30s. Somehow it stands strong today though for a slightly different clientele then a century and a half ago!
Steve Ellwood has shared a set of plans for alterations to the Ship Inn in 1905 here: https://x.com/TyneSnapper/status/1848695530525716919
Listing Description (if available)
Both Ordnance Survey maps shown illustrate the top of the Ouseburn Valley area around the Byker Bridge. The Ship Inn is shown on both, nestled between a full terraced row on its east and west elevation. Opposite was the Northumberland Lead Works, for which there are still remains in Ouseburn Farm. To the south is the Northumberland Mills and what became the Cluny Whiskey warehouse & bottling plant (https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/36-lime-street%2C-ouseburn). The Stepney Pottery, up the bank, was still operating in the 1890s and some buildings all still remain.
In the 1910s the area was still dominated by grimy industries, though the pottery had closed. Lead Works lined both sides of the burn making for a very polluted waterway. The mills of the 19th century became less dominant. The settlement around Crawfords Bridge did remain until the mid 20th century.
To take the clock back slightly, here's the Ouseburn Valley in the mid 19th century, surveyed in 1856. The Byker Bridge was not built for another few decades and the railway viaduct was the only level crossing across, and was used as a foot toll also. They valley was notoriously difficult to cross with wagons and the like, so bridges were mooted for decades prior and after. A bridge was considered between Shieldfield and Heaton also, but the land was infilled which became City Stadium instead.
The Ship Inn in 2024 - the last surviving building of this terrace.
The other terraces adjoining the west side of the Ship Inn, which is on the far right. This was likely a few years before clearance. Source: Newcastle Libraries
The Ship Inn in 1966, from the Jack & Geoff Phillips Photographic Collection held by Steve Ellwood (@TyneSnapper)