Plummer House Demolition reveals new vista of Plummer Tower

18th century annex to Plummer Tower

Back in 2008, Newcastle City Council revealed plans and a public consultation on the redevelopment of the East Pilgrim Street Area of the City Centre - an area stretching eastwards from Pilgrim Street to the Central motorway, bordered by Durrant Street to the north and Swan House roundabout to the south.

This area had been identified by the council as a preferred location for the extension of the core shopping area of the City Centre. One of the objectives of the redevelopment was to improve the visibility and the setting of the many historic buildings in the area. I presume this would involve getting rid of a number of low quality, and lacking in merit, buildings dating from the back-end of the 20th Centurym, which tend to dominate and overshadow the historic buildings.

Plummer Tower is no exception. Hidden down a side street, jammed between Plummer House and New Croft Centre, Plummer Tower has been almost completely obscured by the surrounding buildings. Now that the rear block of Plummer House has been demolished, the 18th Century Annex to Plummer Tower can now be seen from Carliol Square.

I suspect, unfortunately, that this vista will be short-lived.  I think that the plans to build student accommodation on this site will again obscure this historic site.  The plans for the East Pilgrim Street development hit the buffers years ago, but its a shame if the vision for enhancing this visual setting of the historic buildings has been forgotten in the process.