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Eldon Square Shopping Centre
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Eldon Square Shopping Centre
Eldon Square (stylised as EldonSq.) is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1976 on the site of Old Eldon Square, a famous part of Georgian Newcastle designed by John Dobson in 1824. The centre was initially the largest indoor shopping centre in the United Kingdom.
The shopping centre spans an area that was historically significant, including the Nunn's Garden and various wards named after the town's defensive towers. The redevelopment in the mid-1970s, which left only the eastern terrace of Old Eldon Square standing, has been criticized for its architectural impact.
Eldon Square has undergone several redevelopments over the years, including the addition of new malls and dining areas. Notable stores within the centre include John Lewis, Next, and the flagship Fenwick department store. The centre was called Intu Eldon Square from 2013 until 2020.
The shopping centre occupies an area close to the old town wall, which followed the course of Blackett Street. This means the modern shopping centre is built on either side of where the wall once stood. From a map drawn by Charles Hutton in 1770, it appears that the ancient wall would have run parallel with the south side of Blackett street. This is the northernmost wall of the southern portion of the shopping centre.[page needed] The YMCA Building, erected in the late 19th century, formed part of the former Blackett Street frontage.
As the city would have grown within its town walls, just south of the north wall was the Nunn's Garden. This is around the location of the now demolished Green Market. The Nunn's Garden was bordered by High Friar Chare, a street running almost in-line with 'High Friars way' in the present shopping centre. Wards in this area were named after the towers which guarded the ancient town walls. The wards occupying the south portion of the shopping centre would have been 'Andrew Tower ward' site of Newgate multi-storey car park (now demolished) and Eldon Leisure. 'Fickett Tower ward', is below where Eldon Leisure is located in the present megastructure, and 'Bertram Momboucher Tower ward' is located where the now demolished Eldon food courts and Newgate car park once stood.
North of the town walls, Charles Hutton's 1770 map shows a bowling green on the site of the present day Marks & Spencer, John Lewis part of the megastructure and Prudhoe Street car park. The area presently occupied by the Northumberland Street entrance to the centre and Fenwicks were in 1770 market vegetable gardens. That would have been south of the bowling green.
In 1824, John Dobson was commissioned by Richard Grainger to produce designs for Old Eldon Square. The design involved terraces facing a central square: the terraces were faced with finely cut ashlar.[page needed]
During the 1960s, the leader of the city council, T. Dan Smith, set the groundwork for a new shopping centre. He intended to use the famous Danish architect Arne Jacobsen; however this fell through. Old Eldon Square was nonetheless controversially redeveloped in the mid 1970s, with Christopher Booker writing in 1978 that it was "perhaps the greatest single example of architectural vandalism in Britain since the war. Until ten years ago this most handsome piece of old Newcastle, with its blackened, post-classical frontages survived intact. Today only one side remains, the rest dominated by the astonishingly brutal shopping centre put up by Capital and Counties, turning its brick backside on the world in the most aggressive way, in order to lure Novocastrians into the softly-lit womb of the air-conditioned shopping malls within."
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Eldon Square Shopping Centre AI simulator
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Eldon Square Shopping Centre
Eldon Square (stylised as EldonSq.) is a shopping centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1976 on the site of Old Eldon Square, a famous part of Georgian Newcastle designed by John Dobson in 1824. The centre was initially the largest indoor shopping centre in the United Kingdom.
The shopping centre spans an area that was historically significant, including the Nunn's Garden and various wards named after the town's defensive towers. The redevelopment in the mid-1970s, which left only the eastern terrace of Old Eldon Square standing, has been criticized for its architectural impact.
Eldon Square has undergone several redevelopments over the years, including the addition of new malls and dining areas. Notable stores within the centre include John Lewis, Next, and the flagship Fenwick department store. The centre was called Intu Eldon Square from 2013 until 2020.
The shopping centre occupies an area close to the old town wall, which followed the course of Blackett Street. This means the modern shopping centre is built on either side of where the wall once stood. From a map drawn by Charles Hutton in 1770, it appears that the ancient wall would have run parallel with the south side of Blackett street. This is the northernmost wall of the southern portion of the shopping centre.[page needed] The YMCA Building, erected in the late 19th century, formed part of the former Blackett Street frontage.
As the city would have grown within its town walls, just south of the north wall was the Nunn's Garden. This is around the location of the now demolished Green Market. The Nunn's Garden was bordered by High Friar Chare, a street running almost in-line with 'High Friars way' in the present shopping centre. Wards in this area were named after the towers which guarded the ancient town walls. The wards occupying the south portion of the shopping centre would have been 'Andrew Tower ward' site of Newgate multi-storey car park (now demolished) and Eldon Leisure. 'Fickett Tower ward', is below where Eldon Leisure is located in the present megastructure, and 'Bertram Momboucher Tower ward' is located where the now demolished Eldon food courts and Newgate car park once stood.
North of the town walls, Charles Hutton's 1770 map shows a bowling green on the site of the present day Marks & Spencer, John Lewis part of the megastructure and Prudhoe Street car park. The area presently occupied by the Northumberland Street entrance to the centre and Fenwicks were in 1770 market vegetable gardens. That would have been south of the bowling green.
In 1824, John Dobson was commissioned by Richard Grainger to produce designs for Old Eldon Square. The design involved terraces facing a central square: the terraces were faced with finely cut ashlar.[page needed]
During the 1960s, the leader of the city council, T. Dan Smith, set the groundwork for a new shopping centre. He intended to use the famous Danish architect Arne Jacobsen; however this fell through. Old Eldon Square was nonetheless controversially redeveloped in the mid 1970s, with Christopher Booker writing in 1978 that it was "perhaps the greatest single example of architectural vandalism in Britain since the war. Until ten years ago this most handsome piece of old Newcastle, with its blackened, post-classical frontages survived intact. Today only one side remains, the rest dominated by the astonishingly brutal shopping centre put up by Capital and Counties, turning its brick backside on the world in the most aggressive way, in order to lure Novocastrians into the softly-lit womb of the air-conditioned shopping malls within."
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