Heber Street

Heber Street is a short street in Newcastle, which runs from Gallowgate, through to Wellington Street, Bath Lane and Science Square. The street was heavily modified with the construction of Newcastle Helix. Today, the towers of the Sandman Signature Hotel and The View (student accommodation) flank the entrance to Heber Street off Gallowgate. In the mid 20th century, Heber Ironworks were located on the north side of the street and an engineering works on the south side.[1] The ironworks were built on part of the site of the former Gallowgate Lunatic Asylum, designed by William Newton and built in 1767. The asylum closed in 1867 due to overcrowding; the buildings were then modified for industrial uses - mostly now demolished, but some remnants of the stone walls of the asylum are still upstanding at the south of Heber Street, and the boundary walls of the People's Kitchen on Bath Lane, and behind the garage on St. James Boulevard.[2] Much of the surrounding area was later the Scottish & Newcastle Brewery. After the brewery closed in 2005, the site was then purchased by Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University for development into what is now Newcastle Helix. Presumably the name of the street relates to the nearby Heber Tower of the medieval town walls.