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Jesmond had been outside Newcastle until the 1832 Reform Act which also expanded the city to the East & West. John Dobson planned the development of a residential suburb which was then built progressively from South to North. The land on which Jesmond is built had been given over to the Corporation of Newcastle by the eight or so landowners under Covenants. These restricted the sorts of use and buildings that they would permit on their land.
Click here to read one of these Covenants
It was because of those Covenants that the area remained mainly residential throughout the 20th Century, with the few pubs in Jesmond being around the periphery.
By 1850, the population of Jesmond was about 2000.
In the 1860's Osborne Road was created as far North as St George's Church. In the 1870's, it was extended North to join Benton Road.
In the 1880's William Armstong donated Jesmond Dene to the City, which he had extensively landscaped out of the former unkempt Heaton Wood.
By
the 1890's the house building in Jesmond had reached its greatest
pace, most of the southern area had been developed into a
residential suburb and the railway line to the coast ran North
South through the area stopping at the South (Jesmond Station)
and at the West (West Jesmond Station).
By 1910 the northern half had also been developed.
This picture from 1912 shows an electric tram running up Osborne
Road. At first, the line ended near Acorn Road though was
later extended to the Northern end of the Road. The tower of St.
George's church can also be seen in the background. Some of
Jesmond's other churches have now gone, several having been
demolished in the 1980s.
By 1950, the population had reached over 15,000.
St.Mary's Chapel and St. Mary's Well
The following is taken from "An Account of Jesmond" F.W. Dendy, 1903.
A site of particular historical interest in Jesmond are the ruins
of St.Mary's Chapel near the junction of Reid Park Road and Jesmond
Dene Road, and St. Mary's Well nearby on the footpath behind
Grosvenor Road.
St. Mary's Chapel at "Jesu Mount" was regarded as one
of the most important shrines in Christendom in medieval times.
The reason for this veneration was due to the fact that evidence
of the enactment of healing miracles at St. Mary's Well had been
received and accepted by the Pope in Rome. It was held that Jesus,
at the request of the Virgin Mary, had performed miracles between AD
1125 and AD 1250 at the Well, which was in a wooded hollow, a
short distance to the west of the Chapel.
The Chapel was originally built in the middle of the 12th century.
It has been suggested that the Lords of Jesmond brought relics from
the Holy Land to the Chapel which caused it to become the object of
pilgrimages. Pilgrim Street in the City Centre is so named because
the pilgrims would lodge there on their way to St. Mary's at Jesmond.
In 1428 the Chapel was partly ruined and Pope Martin requested that it
should be repaired. The shrine became so important that up to 1449
presentations were made to it by the King of England.
In 1548 the Chapel was suppressed by Edward VI. It was sold to the
mayor of Newcastle in 1549 who then sold it to John Brandling,
Squire of Jesmond. The Chapel was disendowed, dismantled,
and put to secular uses, finally becoming a barn and stable.
It fell into ruin and in 1883 the plot of ground on which it stood,
about one acre, was given by Lord Armstrong as part of his gift of
Jesmond Dene to Newcastle for a public park.
A slightly unfamiliar description of Jesmond and the rest of
Newcastle from the American "1911 Encyclopedia" can be read
here.
And from the Encyclopedia Britannica can be read
here.
A more detailed and well researched history of Jesmond appeared for a while on the Newcastle
City Council web site. A copy has been saved and can be viewed here.
Regrettably the links on this salvaged page will not work