King Charles I Place of Imprisonment

It's not often we get to be topical on the Fabulous North and keep abreast of what's happening across national headlines, but whilst out on my travels this week, I came across this nugget of historical information which runs a poignant parallel to recent happenings in the House of Windsor!

This is the commemorative plaque marking the spot where the last royal to get himself into bother with the bizzies was held.

In May 1646 King Charles I was forced to give himself up for surrender after he had battled unsuccessfully with both the English and Scottish armies in the English Civil War. He was defeated in April 1646 and fled after the Siege of Oxford, where he escaped dressed as a servant, and gave himself up to the Scottish Presbyterian army, who were besieging Newark. He was then taken northwards to Newcastle.

This painting of the monarch by van Dyke hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Here, the King was held as a prisoner at what was then a huge stately mansion built by Robert Anderson in 1580, known as Newe House, and later as Anderson Place. It was said to be the largest mansion house in the country within city walls.

Both this image and the image below are from the local studies section of Newcastle City Libraries.

This house was built on the foundations of the Grey Friars Monastery and was surrounded by formal gardens. Not a bad place to hang out for a baddie.

Although no longer there, it was demolished to make way for the work of Richard Grainger to redevelop the city centre. Today, we recognise the spot just up from the Theatre Royal and below Grey's Monument, where I opened my first student bank account at Lloyds on Grey Street...no longer there, and soon to be a fancy pants restaurant according to local reports! Designed by Dobson in 1839, there are so many stories under our feet.

But geographically, you get my gist of where Charles was holed up by General Leven, who was the commander of the Scottish Covenanter army. He'd chosen Newe House as his headquarters from which to imprison the King. This plaque marks the spot of his internment.

It is said that, despite the King being self-righteous, unscrupulous and arrogant, he was treated in a relatively relaxed fashion and with deference, being allowed to receive visitors and enjoy the leisure of a round of golf and a match of bowls at Shieldfield on the green.

Now, more of a claim to fame is that my husband's Grandma and Granda Dack lived on the 12th floor of King Charles Towers in the 1980's! Move over, King Charles! Now clad in bright banana yellow, the updated city flats tower over the area, overlooking one of the many university buildings in an area that was once prosperous and filled with burgeoning young minds like William Armstrong, who lived close by in the 1800s.

Shieldfield Green was a well-to-do neighbourhood and home to King Charles House, seen here in these photographs from Newcastle Local Studies Department at Newcastle City Library, as a three storey brick built house with Dutch gabled dormer windows. The King would apparently rest here when he played golf in the area! The North East poet Robert Gilchrist also died here in 1844! What a past. If walls and windows could say words eh?

The building was demolished in 1960 to make way for the flats named in recognition of his time spent there. High rise indeed.

This bronze tablet was above the doorway of the original building, and during the redevelopment of the area, it was repositioned in the centre of the park, where the King would play golf and bowls.

It's alleged that the King would also enjoy a pint in the local pub, The Old George, where there is still a chair he was purported to have sat in. It's said he'd attend church, his local being St Nicholas', where he'd yell and disrupt services if he didn't agree with what was being preached. Newcastle spent nine months housing this regal fugitive.

In 1647, after many months of negotiations The Scots and the English finally arrived at an agreement to hand over Chas in exchange for £100,000!

After a further couple of years of dogy dealings and ill-fated negotiations, King Charles I was accused of treason against England by using his power to pursue his personal interest rather than the good of the country. Sound familiar?

Charles 1st was the last member of the royal family of such a high social standing to be arrested and sent to trial, and Newcastle played a part in his imprisonment.

On a chilled and cold day in in Whitehall in January 1649, thousands of people gathered to watch Charles get the chop!

His last words were “I go where no disturbance can be”.

The last time a royal head rolled, the recognition of his wrongdoing started in Newcastle!