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of this laborious clafs, as the keelmen form a very confequential part of the inhabitants of this vaft mart of trade, of which the coal trade is the foul and fpring of every other branch of business.

This ufeful body of men appear fo far back as the year 1539, to have been a conftituted fraternity. They are there termed, in a decree of the Star-chamber, "The craft of keelmen." In the year 1556 they appear to have been an independent fociety.

In the year 1649, they occur as petitioning the hoftmen to provide them with a chapel for worship, and a minifter. Religion was then the fashion of the times.

The number of gentlemen's carriages, as well as carriages for the various branches of trade and bufinefs, rapidly encreafing in Newcastle and its vicinity, and as the paffage through Sandgate was extremely inconvenient and hazardous, a new road, in the year 1776, for carriages leading paft the keelmen's hofpital, and behind the streets of Sandgate, and St. Ann's, towards the north, was made by the commiffioners and trustees of the turnpike road leading from Newcastle to North Shields, having obtained, as appears from the common-council books, a leafe of the ground neceffary for that purpose, at the yearly rent of one fhilling, from the mayor and burgeffes of Newcastle. This improvement has been attended with the best effects; as the parents of numberless children, with which Sandgate fwarms, were in continual terror of their being run down and crushed to death, by the carriages conftantly driving through that street. Befides the fpeed of stage coaches, private carriages, &c. is greatly accelerated without dread or interruption.

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The delightful and airy fituation of the NewRoad has induced many genteel people to build elegant houses there. And during thefe late years, when fuch immenfe quantities of foreign corn were imported, large granaries were erected on both fides of the road. These the people quaintly termed "Egypt," no doubt in allufion to thofe erected by Jofeph in ancient Egypt. The proprietors, however, fo far from viewing this appellation as implying any disgraceful idea, have actually given the name of "Egypt" to this new row of dwellinghoufes.

A little beyond thefe erections on the New-Road is a ropery upon a ballaft-hill, which is faid to have been the first ballaft-fhore without the town of Newcastle. For which purpose, and that of building limekilns upon it, it appears by records in the Hoftmen's books, to have been purchased by the mayor and burgeffes of the lord of the manor of Byker.

Oppofite St. Ann's chapel, (fee Churches, &c.) ad· jacent to it, is a row of good houses, agreeably fituated both for air and a delightful view of the river and fhipping, called St. Ann's Row. Going down by the turnpike road, we come to Oufe-bourn, over which is a wide ftone bridge, of one arch, with a convenient foot-path on both fides.

But as the tide flows up this rivulet, and confequently affords the convenience of water carriage, enterprizing tradefmen have availed themfelves of this advantage, and have converted a large fpace of almoft ufelefs ground, containing a few wretched houfes for pitmen, &c. into what has the appearance of a large town. On the weft fide of the bourn, ftand a large fpinning factory, a newly erected

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fteam corn-mill, &c. on the other fide are large manufactories of all kinds of pottery-ware, giving employment to hundreds of people.

What is curious, in digging a foundation for the fteam-mill above-mentioned, there was found a stone of about three feet in length, and about two feet fquare. On the end of it is an infcription, evidently Roman; but it is fo much effaced, that it is next to impoffible to decypher it. One gentleman, fkilled in the Latin language, feemed to think it intimated that from the termination of the Roman wall on the weft, or Soleway Firth, to this station, was 60 miles. There is no doubt but that mighty barrier, in coming down Byker turnpike road, ran across the rivulet at this place, and directly up to Red-barns and Wall-knoll; and as they no doubt had a bridge over this rivulet, which poffibly was much broader in ancient times, this ftone might have been one of thofe placed on the bridge, directive of the distances, &c. This curiofity is now placed in Mr. Yellowley's garden above Busy Cottage.

Going down by Oufe.bourn, we come to a little narrow ftone bridge, called the Glass-house bridge. In the neighbourhood are feveral dock_yards where many fhips are built; paffing over the bridge, we come to the glass-houses, and further down on the river fide is another large manufactory of the fame kind. See account of Glass-works.

Adjoining to the upper glafs-houfes, is the diffenter's large burying-place. See Chapels.

Further down from the low glafs-houfes, after paffing more docks for fhip-building, we come to St. Peter's Quay. It is there where Mr. William Row

Row is planning a dry dock, and where he is now building a new quay.

The streets are paved chiefly with Scotch blue, or grey granite ftones, heavy, compact, and extremely hard. They are found to be the most durable, and fitteft to bear the preffure of the vast number of waggons and heavy carriages which pafs here from all parts.

Yet it is remarkable, that, in a town of so much trade, with warehoufes fo full of valuable commodities, the corporation was fo long in adopting that admirable branch of municipal police, the great convenience of having nightly lamps in the streets.

A proposal was made and published in the year 1755, for lighting the town with one hundred and fifty lamps! But it was not till a fubfequent period that even this took place, as we find by the following extract from the Newcastle Courant.

October 1, 1763. “Thursday the lamps put up in the streets of the town were lighted up for the firit time." This was in confequence of an act lately paffed, “ for lighting the streets and other places, and maintaining a regular and nightly watch, within the town and county of Newcastle upon Tyne, for regulating the hackney coachmen, chairmen, cartmen, porters, and watermen, within the fame." The small number of lamps, and quantity of oil, have been a fubject of complaint; how juftly, is not for us to decide it certainly would be more agreeable was the quantity of both doubled. To defray the expence attending this great convenience, the inhabitants are charged, in proportion to their rentals, at the rate of fixpence per pound.

Such is a general view of the public ftreets, and of

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the most remarkable private buildings in Newcastle and its fuburbs.

Of the Means of fupplying the Town with Water.

To obtain a fufficiency of this abfolute neceffary of life, has ever claimed the attention of rulers and magiftrates, in cities, towns, and even villages, in every country and in every age of the world. The ancient Greeks and Romans were careful in the extreme to have abundance of light, fweet, wholefome water. In their encampments, fites of their cities, &c. they made choice of the fituation always with a view to their obtaining an abundance of this element. And when the defart, or ridges of mountains, wastes, and folitudes, intervened, they then reared the mighty aqueduct, arch upon arch, to convey the falutary ftream to the thirsty inhabitants of the crowded city. It is remarkable, that with all their knowledge in geometry, and other branches of fcience, they were ignorant of this grand principle in hydroftatics, that water will rife horizontally to its level. Hence their lofty aqueducts, raifed at vaft expence, and always level with the fource or fpring; whereas, by observing the invariable law of nature, water, by leaden pipes, can be conveyed over mountains, through moraffes, along bridges, nay, even beneath the beds of rivers, in any quantity, and at a thoufandth part of the expence, But a mighty advantage refulted to mankind from the ignorance of the ancients in hydroftatics; and that is, the thorough knowledge which they have communicated to the moderns of the arch, in all its forms, circular, eliptical, catenarian, &c. by which

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