Tynemouth – Jane Sketching

Here is a view of the Coastguard Station and Tynemouth Priory, seen from across King Edwards Bay, on the North-east coast of England.

Tynemouth Coastguard Station and Tynemouth Priory, Sketched 8th April 2023 in sketchbook 13

They both are, in their own ways, continuations of the cliffs below. The coastguard station with its massive concrete architecture, the priory with its soaring stone columns. And as if to emphasize how transitory are our human constructions: both are now disused, at least for their original functions.

Parts of the original priory which still survive are the West side of the nave, from the 12th century. “..in January 1539 the priory fell victim to the nationwide Dissolution of the Monasteries” says the English Heritage website. The headland then became a military fortification in wars which followed, right up to the 1939-45 conflict, where guns were stationed there. Some of the gun emplacements remain. It is now a tourist attraction managed by English Heritage.

Much less information is available about the Coastguard Station. It was opened in 1980 and closed in 2001, according to a BBC article of 2001. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1567195.stm). It is a remarkably solid building in a first class location. Why has nobody converted it into a splendid home, guest house, restaurant, art gallery or place of worship?

While I was sketching, a elderly woman passed by on the path and admired the sketch. She said she was surprised more people weren’t sketching there: it was a splendid view. I agreed, and didn’t point out that it was also windy and very cold. I think such an observation would have revealed me as a soft southerner. She said she didn’t sketch, but she did other things. Tap dancing, she said.

This is as far as I got before I became too cold to continue.

I sketched the Coastguard Station in 2017:

View looking North from Long Sands beach.

The Coastguard Station was completed in 1980 and closed in 2002. It is in the same enclosure as the very ancient Priory, which is managed by English Heritage. I asked in the English Heritage office about the Coastguard Station. She asked what did I want to know. “Who designed it, for example,” I said. She didn’t know.
“I’ve never been asked that question before,” she said.

The Coastguard station on the land of Tynemouth Priory.

We went across the Tyne on a ferry, I tried to do a few quick sketches on the move. 1st October 2017

We stayed at “Tynemouth 61”. Here is the view from the Dickens Room.

In the Laing Gallery I drew some measuring vessels. Quart, pint, half-pint. The pots are painted with dark green and brown paint, very highly glazed. A black line and blue stripe at the top.