The area of present Newcastle after the…

The area of present Newcastle after the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, had become part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, and became known throughout this period as Monkchester.

Monkchester had been all but destroyed after a series of conflicts with the Danes and the devastation north of the River Tyne inflicted by Odo of Bayeux after the 1078 rebellion against the Normans.

Because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, had erected a wooden castle here in the year 1080 and the town had henceforth been known as Novum Castellum or New Castle.