top of page
og1.png

4894

Wrestling

Newcastle, Wrestling Ground

54.963634, -1.620452

Elswick, Newcastle

Opened:

1857

Closed:

1876

Redeveloped

Condition:

Home Teams/Clubs:

Last Updated:

8 Dec 2023

Wrestling Society of Newcastle

HER Description

The Redheugh Bridge and the notoriously dodgy car park below provide no clues that this was Newcastle’s first purpose built wrestling ground.

Not the WWE kind mind - more like the Greco Roman wrestling you might see during the Olympics.

It was opened in 1857 when Lord Decies, a Newcastle born military man and Olympian, paid for some stands to be used by the Wrestling Society of Newcastle.

Large scale meetings were held every Easter until 1876. At this point, the North Eastern railway absorbed the site to construct a large stables for their horses. They transported goods across the city and helped out in and under the goods depot.

From this year, the annual wrestling competition took place at the Northumberland Baths Cricket Ground. The main campus of Northumbria Uni stands here now.

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey, 1864

'Sketches of The Coal Mines in Northumberland and Durham' T.H.Hair, published in 1844

Pottery Lane Wrestling Ground in the 1860s or 1870s. Source: Newcastle Libraries via Played in Tyne and Wear by Lynn Pearson

Have we missed something, made a mistake, or have something to add? Contact us

'Sketches of The Coal Mines in Northumberland and Durham' T.H.Hair, published in 1844

The site of the wrestling ground in 2023.

Historic Environment Records

Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past

Tyne and Wear: Sitelines

HER information as described above is reproduced under the basis the resource is free of charge for education use. It is not altered unless there are grammatical errors. 

logosite.png

Historic Maps provided by

nls-logo.png
bottom of page