Street named after visionary builder dates back to 1830s

THIS was how Newcastle’s Grainger Street looked in 1975.

- DAVID MORTON

Fifty years later, apart from cosmetic differences, the view is largely unchanged.

The major thoroughfare runs from Grey's Monument down to Neville Street and Newcastle Central Station.

It dates back to the 1830s and was named after the visionary builder and businessman Richard Grainger who masterminded much of the city centre we know today.

Working alongside the architect John Dobson, it has been written of Grainger that he “found Newcastle of bricks and timber and left it in stone”.

The section of the street which runs from the Bigg Market/Newgate Street to Neville Street was not completed until 1868.

It had been little more than a narrow alley before then.

In the late 19th century and into the early 20th, Grainger Street was Newcastle's main shopping location.