Newcastle - Cathedral

Newcastle (officially Newcastle upon Tyne) developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius. Later, being part of the kingdom of Northumbria, it was known as Monkchester. Conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the settlements along the River Tyne in ruins. Robert Curthose, oldest son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080 since then the town was known as New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a stone castle in 1087. After a rebellion against the Normans in 1088, the town was all but destroyed by Odo of Bayeux.Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress.

Soon after the construction of the Norman castle in 1080, the first parish church was built on its current site. It is mentioned as St Nicholas' Church in 1194. Around the same time, the wooden building was replaced by a stone church, which burned down twice in the following decades and was rebuilt larger. At the end of the 14th century, it was raised and given a clerestory. This gave it the shape of an elongated basilica with a transept. The tower with its characteristic openwork crown was added at the end of the 15th century.

Scottish reformer John Knox served here as minister from 1550 to 1553.

In the mid-19th century Newcastle experienced a huge increase in its population, leading to the construction of over 20 new churches in the suburbs. As Newcastle continued to grow, so did its need for a diocese separate from Durham, and so in 1882 the Diocese of Newcastle was formed, with St Nicholas's as its cathedral.