Tynemouth Castle and Priory

Tynemouth Castle and Priory stands on a rocky headland where the River Tyne meets the North Sea. The site combines a medieval Benedictine priory with a later castle, both enclosed by high stone walls and towers. Three English kings were buried here in the priory, which gave North Tyneside its coat of arms with three crowns. The headland rises steeply from the water, leaving only a narrow neck of land to defend. The priory’s past reaches back to the 7th century when Anglian kings chose this windswept spot for a monastery. Bede mentions the site, and in 792 King Osred II was buried here. Viking raids destroyed the early buildings in the 9th century, but fragments of Anglo-Saxon crosses remain. After the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror’s forces damaged the church, and later monks rebuilt it as a Benedictine house. The shrine of St Oswine became a major pilgrimage centre until Henry VIII suppressed the monastery in 1539. Visitors walk along the curtain walls that stretch across the headland’s narrow neck. Whitley Tower and East Mount Tower command views over King Edward’s Bay and the North Sea. Inside the walled area stand the remains of the priory church, where the shrine once stood, and the later Percy chapel. The castle’s earthworks and stone walls show how the site was fortified over centuries. The wind carries the sound of waves breaking against the cliffs below, the same sound heard by medieval monks and kings.