The Rise and Decline of Newcastle's Public Toilets
Looking at the historic prevalence of public toilets in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to try to establish why they disappeared from the city
Audio walking tour
You can now explore the history of Newcastle's public toilets through this self-guided audio-walking tour! It takes roughly one hour to complete (including moving between stops).
Join us on a walk weaving through nine now-gone sites of public privies and urinals in the city, as we investigate where, and most importantly why, these pieces of public infrastructure have disappeared from Newcastle.
Please note: for a step-free route, after Stop 7 follow the Side down to the Quayside and take a right under the Tyne Bridge and follow the Quayside to the old Guildhall.
Credits: narrated by Dale Glenister; guests, Shaun Pearl (ACORN) & Kieran Carter (North East Heritage Library); guidance from Alannah Chance and Shane McCorristine; music by Big Neil Anderson; concept, research, scripting & editing by Maud Webster; project funded by New Writing North.
Newcastle's lost public toilets: A walking tour
Rise & Decline of Newcastle's Public Toilets; Audio Tour Guide
Exhibtion @ The City Library
The Rise (1800s - 1960s)
Newcastle experienced a boom in public conveniences and urinals available to the public in the 1800s, spurred by public health acts and the changing needs of working people and shoppers in the urban centre. In 1849, there were a reported 17 public privies in the town; by 1964, there were 84.
This StoryMap focuses mainly on the toilets within Newcastle's City Centre and Ouseburn areas.
What were public toilets called?
In this research, we used different historical and regional terms for different types of toilets to help gather information. These included:
Netty | Is a local North-East term for a toilet. The artist Robert Olley painted the 'Westoe Netty' , inspired by a toilet in South Shields. In 2008 the Westoe Netty was rebuilt at the Beamish Museum, however, removed as visitors thought it was for use in 2010. It's currently in storage awaiting reconstruction and plumbing to be made into a working urinal.
Public convenience | Or 'PC' is a publicly accessible room with a sink and toilet, and is more common in language use recently, replacing terms like lavatory and privy.
Public urinals | Many of the facilities available for men were urinals, though in the Victorian period they were often very ornate and elaborately designed. Sometimes they would be underground.
Water closet | Or 'WC' just refers to a room containing a flushing toilet.
Public privies | A more historical term, referring to a toilet outside housed in a small shed, often with a basic setup.
Lavatory | A room or building containing a toilet or toilets.
Examples of victorian privies, public urinals and public toilets
Where were they in Newcastle?
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Council began increasing the provision of public toilets for the public, in the interests of public health. The map below marks the sites of public privies and urinals recorded on the 1894 OS Maps of the city.
Toilets in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne 1850s - 1910s
What was going on in the 1800s?
1848
Public Health Act 1848 established a General Board of Health, in charge of sewage, water, paving, etc.
1849
A report on public privies stated that there were a total of 17 in the town.
1853
At the Town Council, residents on Market Lane complained: "of the want of a public urinal and other of nuisances".
1861
Newcastle now has "54 public urinals, the greater proportion of them kept clean and sweet by water constantly running through them."
1875
Public Health Act 1875 replaced local boards of health with local authorities as sanitary authorities.
1880
Again, at Newcastle's Town Council meeting, "a report was presented from the Finance Committee recommended the erection of four shops, with lofts above, together with a urinal and public convenience in Clayton Street, between the Bird Market and the present shops in front of the Vegetable Market; the cost is estimated at £760 and the rental at £160 per annum.".
What did they look like?
There are some existing plans for underground WCs and Urinals, and an above-ground metal 2-stall urinal proposed for Grey Court, as shown below. This demonstrates the impressive designs public provisions were afforded at the time.
Credit: Newcastle City Library
What were the factors behind public toilet provision in Newcastle?
Consumerism
The relationship between money, class, and access to toilets has a long and intertwined history.
Profiting from waste
At Newcastle's Town Council in 1851: "A proposal from a firm to put up public urinals on condition of having the produce to use in the manufacture of manures, was referred to the Town Improvement Committee"
The waste products from urinals and privies can aid the manufacture of manure and can be used in tanneries (urine) - therefore, firms pushed for public facilities to gain the waste produced by them. Financial benefits can be attained from public toilets!
Shopping
With the introduction of shopping centres, like Eldon Square in 1976, and the neoliberal policies of successive governments, the responsibility for providing toilet facilities shifted away from local authorities to private providers. In 1964, a report notes how “the council’s responsibility for the provision of conveniences may be slightly eased in the future by an increased in the number of privately managed establishments providing facilities including transport terminals, car parks, large shops and filling stations.”
The origin of the phrase 'Spend a penny' refers to the use of coin-operated locks in public conveniences. Whilst men's urinals were usually free of charge, women were typically expected to pay for use of toilets. This brings us onto...
Gender
Women's toilets in Newcastle
Despite the high quantities of public toilets in Newcastle during this time, very few were available for use by women. In 1890, at a meeting of the Newcastle Sanitary Committee, a proposal that more lavatories for women should be placed in various parts of the city was raised; "the committee was in favour of the proposal and it is expected that steps [would] be taken to carry it into effect", as "it is a matter in which Newcastle is behind other great towns".
However, there was still a divide between the number of public conveniences available to men and women even in the 1960s. A report highlights how there were 63 male but only 24 female in the city in 1964.
Women and the 'urinary leash'
The term 'urinary leash' refers to the lack of toilets open for women in the 19th Century in an effort to restrict their freedoms and keep them at home.
The decision to introduce facilities for women was largely spurred by commercial reasons nationwide. The thinking was, if women had access to toilets in the city, then they'd be more likely to shop for longer and spend more money. This led to the introduction of more women's toilets in the 1900s around Newcastle, though still far fewer than the facilities available to men, and were largely concentrated around commercial areas in the city.
Work
In a Public Conveniences report in 1964 by the City Planning Office, and Director of Licencing, it was noted that noted the older, industrial areas of Elswick, Battlesfield and Quayside were well provided for. This provision stretches back decades, as the 1894 OS map highlights.
Markets
In the 1800s and early 1900s, Newcastle had many specialised markets where farmers from across Northumberland and County Durham could travel to and sell their stock. On the current site of the Life Centre by Newcastle's Central Station, livestock markets were once located. These busy markets contained public urinals and occasionally privies, to serve primarily the men who worked there. Around 1854, the cattle market had a two-seat privy and the fish market a four-seat privy.
Cabmen's Shelters
Urinals are frequently found next to Cabmen's shelters, as shown in the map of Haymarket below and the image of Carliol Street to the right.
1894 OS Map | Haymarket | Credit: DigiMap
Crime
Many 19th century crimes in Newcastle were committed in public privies or urinals, including cases of robbery and assault. Some notable cases concern:
The sad case of Needle Jack
High Crane privies and urinals were notorious places for crimes to occur, including one especially sad case. One Saturday afternoon, an old man named Patrick Rogers, also known as "Needle Jack", went into the High Crane Privy in an intoxicated state. Two other men, John Dixon and Thomas Miller, were there as well and were not drunk. Dixon and Miller set fire to Needle Jack's hair and pushed him down one of the privy compartments, into the river, where he tragically drowned.
Nicking some boots
As reported in the Newcastle Journal in September 1865, 24-year-old George Armitage was charged with stealing a pair of boots from the shop door of a boot and shoemaker on Clayton Street. The pair of boots were displayed, which George "suddenly unhooked and then made off." George decided to hide the stolen boots in a urinal opposite Central Station but was quickly caught. He was sentenced to three months imprisonment.
Altercation in a public privy
A coal miner named James Flannigan was charged with being drunk and attempting to stab three men with a pocket knife. The attempted stabbing took place in a public privy in St Nicholas' Church Yard, when Flannigan, much "worse for liquor", one of the men should leave, "and without another word aimed a blow at him with the knife'.
Pushing an inspector into the Tyne
Soldier Joseph Fothergill was charged for pushing a Sub-Inspector into the river Tyne, to try and drown him. Sub-Inspector Marshall said one Sunday morning he saw about a dozen men standing near the Swirle (Quayside), with one of the men accusing another had robbed him - but they could not discover who. Marshall was later informed that a man had some money robbed and was thrown down the public privy at the Swirle. On going back to the privy, he found no man - so he decided to investigate the river thinking that the man couldn've come out of the sewer. He went on a keel with Fothergill and two other men to try and find the 'drowned man' - but was instead pushed overboard by Fothergill!
Thomas Bryson
Bryson was Newcastle's Town Surveyor between 1854 and his unfortunate death in 1867.
He urged the Council to provide more public conviences in the city.
"I would here take the liberty of pointing out that additional public urinals would be of great service in the recently extended parts of the Borough"
When engineering magazine Builder commented on the sanitary state of the city in 1861, Bryson wrote a piece contending with the criticism with the portrayal of Newcastle.
“The “Netty” alluded to, as “only a single rail over a filthy cess pool” is actually a substantial Water Closet, of approved construction, compost of Caithness Flagging and abundantly supplied with water, containing accommodations for 8 persons, divided into 4 compartments, separated from each other by stout wooden partitions, about 5 feet high, in a spacious apartment, floored with Caithness Flags, thoroughly whitewashed with quick lime at frequent intervals, is swept out regularly by the Scavengers of the district, and lighted every night with gas; and there is not more offensive odour or impurity, either within or about the erection, than can be looked for in any place of public convenience”
The article Bryson disagreed with, published in 1861
“there is not more offensive odour or impurity, either within or about the erection, than can be looked for in any place of public convenience”
He tragically died in an explosion on the Town Moor in 1867.
The Decline (1960s onwards)
There are far, far fewer public conveniences available in Newcastle city centre, in comparison to the provision over the past 150 years. There are now no council-run public toilets .
As indoor toilets became increasingly popular, there appeared to be decreased need for these facilities in more residential areas of Newcastle, such as Heaton, Elswick and Shieldfield.
The 60s
In the 60s, areas of Newcastle underwent modernist redevelopment, with planners aiming for a 'City in the Sky' vision of the city.
At this point, there were 87 public conveniences in the city, 63 male and 24 female; “a position which reflects a comparative underprovision of facilities for females.”
Between 1946 and 1964, 20 conveniences were erected, but 49 of the existing 87 were constructed before 1910.
“Where a public convenience is proposed as part of a comprehensive scheme, the exact sitting and time of building will be dictated by overall requirements and progress. The annual programme of construction will consequently tend to be irregular and must be flexible"
Cottaging
Cottaging is a slang term for anonymous sex between men in public toilets. Newcastle's gentlemen's toilets on Bigg Market were known for cruising between the 1960s and 90s, as recorded on the Pride of Place map .
Accessibility
Researchers at Newcastle University worked on a project entitled: "Nowhere to go: improving the accessibility of public toilets". This found that the lack of public toilet provision resulted in disabled people and careers restricting the activities they participated in.
They asserted that this lack of public toilets in Northumberland "is a major health and well-being issue and reduces their opportunities to be full participants in society."
Use our Loos
When Newcastle City Council ceased to operate any public toilets in Newcastle, it launched the "Use Our Loos" scheme; this encouraged local businesses to offer toilet use to visitors to the city centre. This scheme has been paused since the start of the pandemic.
ACORN Public Toilets Campaign 2022
The housing union ACORN is currently running a nationwide campaign to increase the number of public toilets in cities including Newcastle. Find their petition here .
ACORN's Public Toilet campaign poster
ACORN member Tanya explains:
ACORN members voted for the toilet campaign as we felt that it was a public concern that there was a lack of toilets in Newcastle after the closure of almost all public provision. “Our demands for this campaign are that the local council will agree to reopen closed public toilets and for them to engage with local community groups to ensure they meet the ongoing needs of the community."
As ACORN, we use direct action to get results through collective strength rather than through traditional legal or bureaucratic routes - so far we have run stalls to gain support from members of the public and carried out several actions to ensure the local council do their public duty and provide toilets for Newcastle. In July one of these actions was to scrutinise the Health and Scrutiny committee, where we got several councillors to agree to our demands and a future meeting to work out the specifics of meeting these demands. With this and future actions we will continue to take back what is ours as a community, together.”
Work on the public toilet campaing in Newcastle (2022)
What have these old public toilets become?
As public toilet provision has declined across the country, many have been sold off to developers to turn into services such as bars and cafes. Others have been left abandoned, or removed or demolished entirely. What have some toilets become in Newcastle?
WC Newcastle
Arguably Newcastle's most well-known public toilet, on Bigg Market, has been turned into an underground wine bar since its closure in 2012.
Gin Closet
These former ladies' toilets on High Bridge have been bought and redeveloped into a Gin Bar. When in operation, this toilet had attendants like many similar public toilets in the city centre.
Forth Street
This Forth Street toilet has been left abandoned and boarded up. You can see here what it looked like inside a few years ago.
Doric House
Opened in 1922, Doric House had public toilets underneath accessible from both sides of the railings and drop behind, near the Castle Keep. It was demolished in the 70s but the public toilets below were kept open into the 2000s.
Causes
The decline in public toilet provision in Newcastle, from over 80 in the 1960s to the current zero in 2022, is due to a few reasons.
Local council funding has been slashed over recent years, leaving councils faced with difficult decisions as to the services they will continue to provide, and those they are forced to cut. Councils rely on shops and businesses, especially in the city centre, offering publicly available toilets for shoppers to use. However, these are only open in line with the opening hours of shops. Arguably, shifts in work and leisure habits have also affected decisions to build and maintain public toilets.
Anti-homeless attitudes in cities have led to the creation of hostile architecture and initiatives which make it hard for people without a home to live in day-to-day. The lack of public toilets removes some people's right to access basic sanitary facilities. Anti-drug policy may have also motivated councils to close public toilets, but as James Greig points out in an excellent article for Dazed , this sort of policy motivation "almost always have adverse effects on other groups". Professor Jo-Anne Bichard , from the Royal College of Art told Greig: "The practice of installing UV lights so that people can’t find veins when injecting heroin has made accessing these spaces more difficult for elderly people; people with visual impairments, some autistic people and, obviously, anyone who needs to inject drugs for medical purposes– when you consider how common conditions like diabetes are, this is clearly exclusionary to a significant percentage of the population."
COVID-19 put further strain on existing provisions, and caused Newcastle City Council to halt their 'Use our Loos' scheme - which ACORN already assert "has proven to be inadequate". The closure of public toilets has had a huge effect on how people, especially homeless and disabled people, can access the city centre and fulfil basic human needs.
The future of Newcastle's public toilets
As highlighted, groups such as the housing union ACORN are campaigning for a reopening of public toilets in Newcastle. The council currently encourage visitors to the city to use toilets open in Grainger Market and the City Library - though these are only open in accordance with opening hours. But as local councils' funding continues to get slashed, the future of Newcastle's public toilets seems questionable.
This said, the City Council recently secured Government levelling-up funding for two fully accessible toilets, at the Civic Centre and Northern Stage. It is unclear whether these would be available during out-of-opening hours. A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council told the Chronicle:
“As a major city, Newcastle was not alone in closing public toilets, but when funding becomes available, we always look to open new toilets when maintenance costs are affordable. We would like to remind everyone that there are also public toilets in Eldon Square shopping centre.”
Like all public services, public toilet provision is dependent on Government and local council funding so the future of Newcastle's public toilets rests largely on the financial circumstances and funding priorities of these bodies.
References
Sources for this research have been acknowledged in the text through hyperlinks or image credits, or can be found below:
- Reports of the Town Surveyor from 1854 to 1867
- Remarks by the Town Surveyor and Inspector of nuisances in an article in the 'Builder' headed 'Condition of our chief towns - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne' (185)
- Public Conveniences: Report of the City Planning office and Director of Licencing (1964)
- Indecent behaviour | Historic England
- Plea to bring back Newcastle's public toilets – a decade on from council's spending cut closures | Daniel Holland | The Chronicle | 2022
- Public toilets 'wiped out in parts of UK' | BBC | 2016
- Nowhere to go: improving the accessibility of public toilets (briefing paper) | Derek Bell, Mary Hull, Janice McLaughlin, Libby Morrison, Sharon Spurling
- Newcastle City Library
- Newcastle University Special Collections
About this research
The website has been created by Newcastle University graduate Maud Webster as an environmental humanities project, with support from HCA academic Dr Shane McCorristine. Maud was funded by a JobsOnCampus internship and supported by the Environmental Humanities Initiative in Newcastle University.
