{"id":3430,"date":"2021-10-01T11:06:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T11:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/?p=3430"},"modified":"2021-10-01T11:07:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T11:07:26","slug":"pilgrim-street-roads-and-robert-burns-dick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/speccoll\/2021\/10\/01\/pilgrim-street-roads-and-robert-burns-dick\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilgrim Street, Roads and Robert Burns Dick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Newcastle seems to be experiencing an endless period of building and regeneration. The\u00a0Evening Chronicle<\/em>\u00a0recently reported that a\u00a0\u2018run-down corner of Newcastle city centre\u00a0is\u00a0currently\u00a0being\u00a0redeveloped to bring new office buildings, a public square, shops, bars, and restaurants. \u2018Pilgrim Place\u2019 is currently being built in\u00a0an\u00a0area\u00a0on the eastern side of Pilgrim Street,\u00a0after the scheme was approved by Newcastle City Council\u2019s planning Committee in July 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a main route into (and out of) Newcastle, Pilgrim Street has been the centre of many similar schemes in the past. When construction of the Tyne Bridge commenced in 1925, the lower end of Pilgrim Street was cleared of many historic buildings dating back to the Sixteenth Century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two pages from a Charles Philips Trevelyan\u00a0family album,\u00a0dated 1925. They\u00a0feature photographs of the bottom of Pilgrim Street, which was being cleared for the construction of the Tyne Bridge.\u00a0The note informs us that \u2018Some houses there were dated 1575\u2019.\u00a0CPT\/PA\/12, Trevelyan (Charles Philips) Archive, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When the Swan House roundabout was built between 1963 and 1969, more buildings were demolished, including the \u2018revered\u2019 Royal Arcade which many people still mourn, even though it was never a commercial success and had fallen into disrepair due to its location outside the main shopping area of the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A view up Pilgrim Street in the Nineteenth Century. The Royal Arcade is the large building on the right. ILL-11-268, Local Illustrations, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Interior view of the Royal Arcade. ILL-11-270, Local Illustrations, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The imposing Pilgrim Street police, magistrates court, and fire station building, the work of local architectural firm Cackett, Burns Dick & MacKellar, is a central landmark in the new development. Built between 1931 and 1933 to replace a previous station, it was Grade-II-listed in 1999 and is earmarked for conversion to a five-star hotel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Cackett & Robert Burns Dick contributed greatly to the appearance of Pilgrim Street; further up the road, they were responsible for the design of the stately Northern Conservative Club at 29 Pilgrim Street, near the Paramount cinema (later the Odeon). This was later demolished to make way for one of the city\u2019s most-disliked buildings, Commercial Union House. Blame T. Dan Smith!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Burns Dick enjoyed a larger-than-life reputation in his adopted home town of Newcastle. Born in Stirling in 1868, his family had moved south when he was very young and Burns Dick always regarded himself as a Geordie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Family portrait of the Dick family, showing Robert\u00a0(Seated third from left), his siblings, and his mother. His father and a brother\u00a0are\u00a0present\u00a0in the two framed photographs. RBD-1-1-3, Burns Dick (Robert) Archive, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After attending the Royal Grammar School and art school, he moved through various architectural firms before entering into partnership with another Scot in Newcastle, Thomas Cackett. Burns Dick provided the creativity while Cackett looked after the business. The company went on to design many of Newcastle\u2019s most important buildings, including the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle University Students\u2019 Union building, the Pilgrim Street police and fire station, the Bridge Hotel, and the extension of the Northumberland County Council offices, now the Vermont Hotel. Away from Newcastle, Burns Dick was the man behind Whitley Bay\u2019s recently-reopened Spanish City buildings and Berwick-upon-Tweed\u2019s old police station (regarded by many as the model for the Laing Art Gallery). An advocate of the Garden City movement, in the 1920s he helped design west Newcastle\u2019s low-rise, low-density and landscaped Pendower housing estate.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Burns Dick (Robert) Archive<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Burns Dick (Robert) Archive was collated after a 1984 exhibition about the architect, held by the Royal Institute of British Architects Northern Region. Although instrumental in the design of some of the area\u2019s best architecture, it was felt that Burns Dick had been \u2018forgotten\u2019. The archive comprises photographs of Burns Dick and his family, two University dissertations about him, and a collection of press cuttings about Burns Dick and the exhibition. These provide a good overview of his life and outline some of his ambitious plans for Newcastle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Copy photographs <\/strong>of Robert Burns Dick and his wife Margaret. RBD-1-1-4, Burns Dick (Robert) Archive, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photograph of Millmount, the Dick residence in Cowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne. The house was designed by Robert Burns Dick with a large garden which was drastically reduced when the Cowgate bypass was built in front of it in the 1960s (hence the metal fence). RBD-2-1-1, Burns Dick (Robert) Archive, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1924 Burns Dick was a founder member of the Newcastle upon Tyne Society to \u2018Improve the Beauty, Health and Amenities of the City\u2019. He advocated a green belt around Newcastle and drew up a list of city centre historic buildings to be saved from any future demolition or decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newcastle\u2019s pre-eminent Victorian architects, Richard Grainger and John Dobson, had created an architecturally beautiful city but its roads were designed for horses and carriages. Burns Dick, although appreciating the pair\u2019s work, said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Is not Newcastle still trading on the brains of Grainger and Dobson and Clayton? . . . It has done nothing since worth mentioning in the same breath.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He drew up plans for new roads to accommodate the arrival and proliferation of motor vehicles in the city, including a development of his partner Cackett\u2019s 1905 plan for a south to north axial road running from the new Tyne Bridge to Barras Bridge to the east of Northumberland Street, and then to his proposed civic buildings on a site near Exhibition Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the articles shows a 1936 proposal for a new town hall and office space in the Haymarket. This appears to be in the space now occupied by offices over Haymarket metro station. RBD-3-1-6, Burns Dick (Robert) Archive, Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Had Newcastle Council not suffered a funding shortage and a change in political power, Burns Dick\u2019s plan for roads, and his grand entrance arch at the northern end of the Tyne Bridge, may have gone ahead. The arch would, of course, have led onto Pilgrim Street, which became the Great North Road (later the A1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Article from The Journal, 1 November 1982, showing Burns Dick\u2019s plan for a grand archway entrance into Newcastle upon Tyne, dated 1925.RBD-3-1-5, Burns Dick (Robert) Archive , Newcastle University Special Collections, GB 186.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maybe as compensation, Cackett & Burns Dick were handed the contract to design Newcastle\u2019s new fire, police station and courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n