Architecture and history
Built in A.D. 1247 this barbican is a 34 feet long by 11 feet 6" wide covered passage with guard rooms on
either side and drawbridges at both ends. While the original height of the
medieval building is unknown it still bares the telltale marks of a portcullis
and of the great castle gate itself in its brickwork.
Between
1227 and 1258 the occupier is recorded as Tomes Herron, (also called William
Heron), the Sheriff of Northumberland. It is known that he liked to decorate the walls of
the Gate with the mutilated bodies of the many people he hung drew and
quartered along with corpses hung on the gallows and displayed in iron cages
and human heads on sticks.
By
1618 the castle was no longer as important and parts of it were leased to
Alexander Stephenson, a courtier of King James I. Stephenson substantially altered the
gatehouse, rebuilding the upper floors, and possibly added the brick house over
the top of the original, fortified gate. He, in turn, let it as accommodation; one tenant
was merchant Patrick Black who it is believed gave his name to The Black
Gate.
Carved
into a stone high up on the south side of
the building is the date 1636 and the name John Pickell, it is known that he
used the Black Gate as a tavern at this time. In 1883 the Society of
Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne leased the property and spent over
sixteen hundred pounds repairing and improving it, including adding the top
floor and pitched roof, to use as a museum until 1959, meeting place and library right up until 2009.
In
the 1930s soldiers were billeted within the Black Gate; the names and dates
they scratched into a pair of wooden pillars in the first floor room are still
visible. Up until the 1970s a caretaker lived
in the top floor.
After splitting up the teams spread out
over the four floors. Talking boards
were used to communicate across the veil with some success; one team reported
that they received messages for one of their number in both the flat and the
first floor ‘hub’ room. While the
investigator was not making contact with the board the answers to his
verification questions were proved to be correct. Short
messages received for members of other teams throughout the night.
‘Daniel’ has come through on many other
occasions and it is known that a “Daniel Fenie”, was active in the area in the
1880s. He reportedly cut the throats of
at least five women and three children.
Is it possible that this Daniel and the one who tried to communicate
with us are one and the same?
The investigation
The evening began with a séance. During this time the heavy tread of footsteps
could be felt vibrating through the wooden floor as though someone was pacing
one at end of the room even though no one visible was moving. A few possible taps and knocks were heard but
with it being All Hollow’s Eve there was a lot of competition from the bells of
the close by Cathedral of St Nicholas.
After splitting up the teams spread out
over the four floors. Talking boards
were used to communicate across the veil with some success; one team reported
that they received messages for one of their number in both the flat and the
first floor ‘hub’ room. While the
investigator was not making contact with the board the answers to his
verification questions were proved to be correct. Short
messages received for members of other teams throughout the night.
Activity on the lower floor ‘stone
room’ was very slight, with only the possibility of a stone being thrown. Unfortunately the makeup of this room makes
verification difficult.
‘Daniel’ did his best to communicate
through a crystal in the small glass doored section of the library; another
group reported the occasional unexplained tap.
‘Daniel’ again came through on a talking board in the hub room, he seemed
to remember talking to me on my previous visit there and recalled the less than
polite word he used to describe me!
‘Daniel’ has come through on many other
occasions and it is known that a “Daniel Fenie”, was active in the area in the
1880s. He reportedly cut the throats of
at least five women and three children.
Is it possible that this Daniel and the one who tried to communicate
with us are one and the same?
Pam’s group had great success with
table tipping in the flat; the table walked and span around in the back room, before
shuffling along and slamming into the wall.
It made quite a racket; I was on the floor below! Later when my group tried we got a bit of
activity but nothing like as much.
On the whole it was somewhat quieter
than previous visits to Newcastle; in fact we were beginning to think that
perhaps all the spirits had gone out to celebrate Hallowe’en, yet the people
who received personal messages, and those accompanying them, appeared pleased
with the results.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle,_Newcastle
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