The Old Post Office and area balustrade
The Old Post Office, St Nicholas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1RH
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1323754
- Date first listed:
- 17-Dec-1971
- List Entry Name:
- The Old Post Office and area balustrade
- Statutory Address:
- The Old Post Office, St Nicholas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1RH
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-05-07
- Reference:
- IOE01/03803/16
- Rights:
- © Mr Bob Cottrell. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1323754
- Date first listed:
- 17-Dec-1971
- List Entry Name:
- The Old Post Office and area balustrade
- Statutory Address 1:
- The Old Post Office, St Nicholas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1RH
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- The Old Post Office, St Nicholas' Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1RH
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Newcastle upon Tyne (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- NZ 24928 63968
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 05/06/2018
NZ 2463 NE
23/489
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
ST. NICHOLAS' STREET (west side)
The Old Post Office and area balustrade
(Formerly listed as General Post Office and area balustrade)
17.12.71
G.V.
II
Former post office. 1871-74 by James Williams. Sandstone ashlar; roof not visible. Classical style.
Four storeys, three bays. Two superimposed Giant Orders: Roman Doric on two lower floors and Corinthian above. Fluted ground-floor band. Central porch in antis contains recessed double door and overlight, flanked by narrow windows; tripartite sash window above. Sashes in outer bays flanked by pilasters. First floor entablature has triglyph and guttae frieze. Sash windows in architraves, those on second floor with apron balustrades and bracketed pediments, the central segmental on Ionic pilasters. Third floor patterned sill band. Rusticated quoins and top entablature with central panel: POST OFFICE in low relief. Wide dentilled eaves cornice. One bay set back at right in plainer style. Stone area balustrade with chamfered moulded coping.
Historical Note: Post offices were a frequent target for suffragettes as part of their militant campaign of disruption. The Women’s Social and Political Union was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903, and pursued a vigorous policy of direct action against the Liberal government as part of its campaign for votes for women. In October 1909, Chancellor David Lloyd George and Education Secretary Walter Runciman held a series of meetings in Newcastle. Great efforts were made to keep suffragettes out of halls with tickets and barriers, but this moved the protests onto the streets. After a series of violent events during which one woman cut through barricades with a hatchet, Kitty Marion and Dorothy Pethick with stones hidden in their hand muffs, entered the post office to check nobody would be hurt by flying glass, before returning back outside and smashing the windows of the Post Office. Twelve suffragettes were arrested and sent to prison.
This list entry was amended in 2018 as part of the centenary commemorations of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
Listing NGR: NZ2492863968
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 304829
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Riddell, Fern, Death in Ten Minutes: Kitty Marion: Activist. Arsonist. Suffragette, (2018)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 07-Jun-2026 at 11:14:02.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.