The Hospital of St Mary the Virgin, Westgate Road - Royal Grammar School Newcastle

Also known as The Spital or Spittal (short for Hospital)

Our school moved to its second home in 1607. The impetus came from the reconstitution of the school through the granting of The Great Charter of 1600. Now, the Grammar School was the 'Royal Free Grammar School of Newcastle-upon-Tyne'. Our home at the Spital was to be the longest we have ever spent at the same location to date – over 230 years!

A New Home for Education

The school at the Spital was based along Westgate Road. The Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin originally used the buildings. This was not a medical hospital as we would recognise today, the 'hospital' was more a charitable institution there to give refuge and living support to the needy. The Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin dates back to at least 1183 and is still in existence as a charity.

Find out more about the Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin and the long-standing links with RGS, in ONA Magazine Issue 108:

'Bedesman, Brethren & Bursaries', by Hazel Jones-Lee

*Colour copy of an engraving of the school at the Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin. Published in John Brand's History of Newcastle (1789). The man in the image is Hugh Moises, Headmaster.*

*Henry Bourne, The History of Newcastle upon Tyne (1736), Map of Newcastle. [RGS Archives, ref: C13/23]*

*Etching of the school at the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin by T.M. Richardson, 1820. [RGS Archives, ref:812]*

From Chapel to Classrooms

The Hospital was made up of a quadrangular block of buildings with a chapel inside the grounds. The School took over the chapel, and the chancel became the Mayor’s Election House. The dormitories of the Hospital were altered to provide rooms for the Headmaster and other school staff. The nave was the part of the chapel used for the School. Eventually, it was divided into three classrooms in 1660.

*Sketch illustration of the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin, by John Storey (1844). [RGS Archives, ref: 819]*

A Window Through Time

The chancel of the Hospital had a stained-glass window in the east wall, depicting the Virgin Mary with Jesus as a child. An exact copy of this window was made for the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Rye Hill, which was opened in 1858. The church closed in 1961 and was demolished along with the Rye Hill School by the City Council to build the College of Arts & Technology, now the Newcastle College Rye Hill campus. See below a photograph of the window at St. Mary the Virgin Church.

*Photograph of the stained glass windows at St Mary the Virgin Church, Rye Hill, 20th century. [RGS Archives]*

*Illustration of the Royal Grammar School, published in Eneas Mackenzie, History of Newcastle Vol I (1818). [RGS Archives, ref: C13/23]*

Early Recreation

Students initially used the public ground called the Forth, just outside the town walls, for recreation. The school was given its first dedicated playground by the Corporation in 1755, a green called the Spital Croft. A.R. Laws described how this playground became a place of conflict as other boys in the town wanted to use the space, much to the consternation of the grammar school students. Fights regularly broke out between 'town' and 'school' boys.

Find out more about the Forth here

Mayor’s Election Day

The School's participation in civic life was no more pronounced than on the Mayor's election day, a huge civic event with the school at the centre of it all. When the new Mayor was elected each year, the ceremony took place in the school building. The Mayor would take up his staff of office from the old oak table, which still has pride of place in our Main Hall today. The boys of the school would be involved in the Mayor’s election day and would join in with the parades.

*Postcard with illustration of Westgate Road, 1789. [RGS Archives, ref: SUR/125]*

*Illustration of RGS at the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin, published in Sir Arthur Munro Sutherland, Industry Thrift and Ambition, (1936). [RGS Archives]*

The Impact of the English Civil War

Our proximity to the town's main fortifications was costly during the English Civil War. In 1644, the Scottish army held Newcastle under siege. When the town was eventually captured, the destruction and plundering of buildings took place. The school was ransacked, with the library of precious books destroyed. Restoration of the damaged buildings took place after the conflict ended.

Newcastle’s Heart

This site brought the school even further into the heart of Newcastle's town life. We were just a short walk away from the heaving markets: the Bigg Market, Groat Market, Cloth Market and Flesh Market. Our proximity to the West Gate, one of the main entrances to the Town through the walls, kept us near to the comings and goings of people. We were right next to the Assembly Rooms (1776), and the Lit & Phil Library (1825). And, of course, we were still close to our original home and the town's mother church, St Nicholas.

*Postcard with illustration of the Old Assembly Rooms, 1789. [RGS Archives, ref: SUR/125]*

*Postcard with illustration of the West Spital Tower, 1820. [RGS Archives, ref: SUR/125]*

*Ordnance Survey Map 1861, 25 inch series, 1st edition. Co. Northumberland Sheet XCVII.3. Courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.*

*Grammar School Newcastle, during its removal in 1844. From MA Richardson, The Local Historian's Table Book ,Vol. III. [RGS Archives, ref: C18/15] ©RGS Newcastle*

*Sketches of the Hospital of St Mary the Virgin buildings, prior to demolition (1843-44). Courtesy of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums [ref: DS 1275/1/2]*

Urban Transformation

Newcastle Town Council began a huge improvement scheme to re-design the town centre in the 1830's. This included plans for the new Central Station and Neville Street, next to the Hospital buildings on Westgate Road. The school and old Hospital buildings were, therefore, demolished in 1844, and the school had to find another home.

A pillar from the north-west gateway is all that remains of the building today in its original location. A plaque can be found on the corner where Westgate Road meets Neville Street, close to the Stephenson Monument.

Two other pillars were rescued from the old buildings by architect John Dobson, who helped redevelop Newcastle in the 1830’s and designed Central Station. They remained in the garden of his house in New Bridge Street until 1924, when they were returned to the School. They flank each side of 'Pillar Gate' on our Eskdale Terrace site and are the only part of our school that has Grade II listed status.

Photograph of view of Westgate Road, Stephenson's Monument, c.1900. From Jubilee Album of Views of Newcastle upon Tyne L942.82 N536J 2nd size Collection : W Printed. Courtesy of Newcastle Libraries Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/newcastlelibraries/4082685062

The Old PillarsTwo other pillars were rescued from the old buildings by architect John Dobson, who helped redevelop Newcastle in the 1830’s and designed Central Station. They remained in the garden of his house in New Bridge Street until 1924, when they were returned to the School.

They flank each side of 'Pillar Gate' on our Eskdale Terrace site and are the only part of our school that has Grade II listed status.

*Photograph of the old pillars at Pillar Gate, 2024. ©RGS Newcastle*

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