We cannot let buildings like this disappear... this place is so Newcastle, you can only get this in Newcastle
A historic hospital built “by Newcastle people, for Newcastle people” will be saved from dereliction thanks to a multi-million pound boost.
Plans to restore the Keelmen’s Hospital, described as the city’s most at-risk heritage asset, will finally go ahead after a £4.6 million grant was awarded from the The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The building dates back to 1701 and stands on a prominent spot above the Quayside, but has fallen into disrepair having been left vacant in 2009. After several failed efforts to restore the grade II* listed site in City Road, its future has now been secured and work is expected to start within weeks to transform it into 20 affordable homes.
The Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust (TWBPT) and Newcastle City Council, who joined forces to rescue the former almshouse, hope that the vision will ensure the Keelmen’s Hospital remains part of Tyneside’s future for generations to come and that more people will discover its remarkable story.
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Keelmen performed the arduous job of transporting coal from the banks of the Tyne on wooden boats out to waiting ships that were too large to travel up the river.
They paid for the construction of the hospital themselves by giving one penny a tide from the wages of each crew, totalling a £2,000 collection to provide food, shelter, and medical care for sick or ageing workers and their families.
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Shona Alexander, chair of the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the charity had been “desperately trying” to stop the Keelmen’s Hospital from being lost as it fell victim to break-ins and vandalism.
She said: “It is part of Tyneside’s rich history and also part of its future. We cannot let buildings like this disappear – this place is so Newcastle, you can only get this in Newcastle. It has been here since 1701 and was built by Newcastle people, for Newcastle people by the keelmen, who were just amazing in those days and so visionary in doing things for themselves in making sure people were looked after when they were ill or old. It is brilliant to see it come alive again.”
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The ongoing demolition of the abandoned Stereo nightclub, formerly the Barley Mow pub, across the road has also come as a timely boost – improving the views of the Keelmen’s Hospital from the riverside below.
In the late nineteenth century, the Keelmen’s Hospital was converted and acted as tenement housing for the city’s poor, and remained so until the living conditions were deemed inadequate in the mid-20th century. It was later turned into student accommodation to the former Newcastle Polytechnic College, but has lain vacant for more than 15 years now.
It is hoped that restoration works can start as soon as March and be completed by autumn 2027, with the hope of creating an affordable apartment development that will be a “tranquil” space in the heart of Tyneside.
Alex Hay, the city council’s deputy leader, said the funding confirmation was “fantastic news” and “something we can all celebrate”.
He added: “This is a really historic building with a fascinating past and I am delighted that the city council is working with the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust to restore it to its former glory and to tell its story to the residents of Newcastle.”
An oral history project capturing the memories of post-war residents of the building is also in the pipeline, as is a partnership with the Glasshouse to allow young people to explore Geordie songs about the keelmen to celebrate and record the restoration of the hospital through music.
Helen Featherstone, of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “I think it is really amazing that this building, which is now grade II* listed, was built by the keelmen with contributions from the keelmen in the very early 1700s and now the building will be converted back to affordable housing.
“Being built by the people for the people is really important. Our vision is about making sure heritage is preserved now and for future generations, so this really chimes with that. The more people who see this building, visit it, live in it, and bring it back to life again mean that it will hopefully be here for another couple of hundred years.”