A Brief History of the Pub

The Tynemouth Lodge Hotel has been trading as a public house since 1799. It is situated next door to the former House of Correction and Justices Room in the Parish of Tynemouth (formerly in Northumberland and latterly in the county of Tyne & Wear). The House of Correction was a prison for minor offenders such as prostitutes, as more serious offenders were sent to the county gaol in Morpeth, where hangings took place. Circuit judges regularly stayed at the Tynemouth Lodge whilst engaged in their periodical duties in the Justices Room, which was the local court house. Hundreds of Houses of Correction were built in England during the eighteenth century by order of an act of Parliament. The Correction House next to the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel is one of just a few left standing, and was made into a Grade II listed building in 1999, and although there have been some modern extensions added to the building, the old structure is still intact.

The beer garden of the Tynemouth Lodge is situated to the rear of the Correction House on the fringe of Northumberland Park. The land on which the the Tynemouth Lodge and the Correction House were built was formerly known as Powebank near to Lowlight Farm (there is still a Lowlight Tavern next to the nearby Fish Quay). It was decreed at the Christmas Sessions at Morpeth on the 13th day of January 1789 that a House of Correction was needed at North Shields. Thomas Fenwick and Thomas Bigge were authorised to find a place. They reported at the Easter Sessions that they had found a site belonging to John Walker of Dockwray Square, and were instructed to come to an agreement, not exceeding £45. The Correction House was duly built, and some ten years later the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel was built for a Mr. William Hopper, who ran the hotel for many years. For most of the twentieth century the Correction House was a laundry.

More Recently...

The Tynemouth Lodge was bought by the current owner in 1983 from Scottish and Newcastle Breweries. It had been allowed to fall into disrepair and had been closed for a few months, being threatened with demolition. At time of closure the pub had been a brewery tenancy, selling only brewery-conditioned keg beers and lagers. The new owner, Hugh Price, was a founder member of the Tyneside Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, and he went about restoring the old building and opened on 22nd December 1983 as a free house, specialising in real ale. He acquired land at the side of the pub for car parking and later bought the old Correction House next door. This small bar now boasts the highest sales of Draught Bass on Tyneside, alongside traditional ales from Belhaven and Caledonian Breweries, both from north of the border. There has been a long tradition of quality Scottish beers being sold on Tyneside, made with the finest Scottish malted barley and pure water. Our real ale policy at the Tynemouth Lodge is to offer a limited range of fast-selling house beers, for an altogether fresher pint of beer.

In the past 20 years the ghost of a lady chasing young chldren has been seen by two successive tenants of a flat on the first floor of the pub. She was wearing a bonnet, about 30 years of age, dressed in Georgian style clothing ... and the children appeared to be extremely happy. On both occasions, neither of the witnesses was in a state of inebriation and on both occasions it happened in the early hours of the morning.

So the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel is definitely haunted! You might even spot the pub ghost here on the website...