Chronicle
The Anchor stands on ground long tied to local justice and hospitality. Records point to an inn here in 1422, when the site also served as a court and gaol. A century later, a letter from the Earl of Northumberland to Cardinal Wolsey in 1528 mentions the execution of Jamys Noble.
Through the early modern period the premises formed part of the leet and court baron of the Barony of Langley. After the 1715 Jacobite rising, Radcliffe lands were confiscated and administered via Greenwich Hospital.
By the mid-eighteenth century the house had taken the name “The Anchor,” a nod to that Admiralty link. Reports speak of a courthouse on the south bank with a commodious inn raised by the commissioners. What was known as the Admiral’s House, now incorporated within the hotel, accommodated their receivers on business.
In the coaching era the Anchor grew busy thanks to its midway position between Newcastle and Carlisle. In 1812 it became the original meeting place of the Haydon Hunt, often cited as the oldest hunt in Northumberland.
Today
Still an inn and café by the River Tyne, with simple rooms and breakfast, a lively bar, and a quiet garden welcoming walkers, cyclists and families.
