Photographs Of Newcastle: Princess Square

Princess Square was built in the 1960's and early 1970's as part of the 'city in the sky' vision which aimed to separate out traffic from pedestrians. With increasing car ownership, towns and cities were becoming dominated by traffic and there was growing awareness of the associated pollution.

The idea was that people would be able move around the city on an 'upper deck' level, with traffic moving below on a 'lower deck'. Some of the developments were done as part of T. Dan Smith's vision for modernising Newcastle, when he was leader of Newcastle City Council. Many of the developments weren't realised - sparing many of the 19th century buildings in Newcastle city centre from potential demolition.

Princess Square and it's series of walkways links the square to Bewick Court, The New Bridge Hotel on Oxford Street, Northumberland Street, Ridley Place, New Bridge Street West, John Dobson Street and access across the Central Motorway towards Manors and the east of the city.

In recent years Princess Square has been altered and shaped by developments around it to John Dobson Street and the City Library while all the time falling out of favour with shoppers leaving the square underused with vacant properties and plagued by anti-social behaviour and drug dealing. The one constant in the square has been a rock pub called Trillians Rock Bar which I visited a few times in the late 1980's or maybe it was the early 1990's, I can't quite remember.

In 2024 a planning application was submitted to turn the Princess Square into a food market incorporating a floor of the Pearl Assurance Building. I'm not sure what is happening at the moment on that front but I will keep you updated as and when anything happens.

Nearby Lisle Street, running between Northumberland Street and John Dobson Street, was covered over when Princess Square was built. It's now largely used by lorries delivering to commercial properties.

Description partially courtesy of Co-Curate.