Heaton

Heaton is located in the east end of Newcastle, approximately 2 miles from the City Centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Benton and Cochrane Park to the north, Walkergate to the east, Byker to the south and Jesmond and Sandyford to the west.

The name 'Heaton' means high town, referring to the area being situated on hills above the Ouseburn, a tributary of the River Tyne.

In the 12th century Heaton became part of the Barony of Ellingham granted by Henry I to Nicholas de Grenville. In the 17th century the Heaton estate was purchased by Henry Babington who was knighted at Heaton Hall by James I on May 1, 1617.

By the 18th century, Heaton was a coal mining area with many of its collieries owned by Matthew White and Richard Ridley. The Heaton estate was broken up in 1835 when the area became officially incorporated into Newcastle upon Tyne. Much of the land in Heaton in 1840 was owned by Amourer Donkin, who on his death in 1857 bequeathed the land to his business partner, the industrialist Sir William Armstrong.

In 1879, the corporation acquired part of the Heaton Hall estate which was laid out as Heaton Park, and Sir William Armstrong donated Armstrong Park and Jesmond Dene to the city. The three parks run into each other to form a green chain through east Newcastle.

During the 19th century, the building of the railways saw the East Coast Main Line pass through Heaton, housing a major rail depot. Heaton also became the location of Sir Charles Parsons engineering works producing turbines.

Heaton was also home to Newcastle United under their previous name Newcastle East End F.C. between 1882 and 1892, East End played at the Heaton Junction Ground on Chillingham Road before moving to St James' Park.

Jack Common (1903-1968), the author of 'Kiddar's Luck' and 'The Ampersand', was born and brought up at 44 Third Avenue, Heaton, and attended Chillingham Road primary school; his novels give a vivid portrait of the area in the early 20th century. Common was later to model for the bust of Karl Marx which tops Marx's tomb in Highgate Cemetery, London. Third Avenue was also the birthplace of the Ringtons Tea business.

Nowadays, Heaton is a mixed working class and middle class area. In recent years it has become a popular residence for many students attending the city's two Universities, Newcastle University and Northumbria University.

Information harvested from Wikipedia - Heaton, Newcastle


Mouseover the photos for more information or a street name.

A few photos of the Stannington Grove/Avenue area that were requested by an ex-resident Muriel now living in Canada.














A couple of photos of 80 Second Avenue for Les Hinchliffe who used to live there before moving to Wales.





Not quite all of Heaton is covered here as it's so big and a lot of the streets look so similar but if there is a part of Heaton you want to see on here just drop me an email and I'll sort it out no problem as I spend a lot of time in Heaton. Heaton Road has page of it's own photos here Heaton Road.

OLD PHOTOS OF Heaton

Landscape photo looking at the street-level entrance to the now dismantled Heaton Station.
View from the south.
Image from August 1974.
©SINE Project

Landsccape photo looking down the platforms of Heaton Station towards the main building.
View from the southwest.
Image from August 1974.
©SINE Project

Landscape photo looking at the platforms of Heaton Station during demolition.
View from the northeast.
Image from August 1974.
©SINE Project

Landscape photo looking at structures on the platforms of Heaton Station.
View from the northeast.
Image from August 1974.
©SINE Project

More information:
North View School Heaton Photo from 1966
North View School Heaton Photo from 1951