Newcastle upon Tyne City Police
Newcastle upon Tyne City Police was the local police force for the city. It was formed in 1836, one of Europe’s first modern police forces, and it operated before the County Police Act of 1839. The force served a busy industrial city and, at its peak, had about 1,000 officers and its own patrol cars.
The main stations were Pilgrim Street in the city centre (which also housed a fire station), Arthur’s Hill, Headlam Street, and Red Barnes, with smaller stations at Walker, Heaton, Kenton and Benwell. Foot patrols had large police boxes where officers could call the main station, and the public could get help or advice.
On 1 April 1969, the force was merged into the Northumberland Constabulary under the Police Act 1964 and ceased to exist as a separate force. The Pilgrim Street police station, opened in 1934 and designed by Cackett, Burns, Dick and MacKellar, was the headquarters and later lost its police identity after Northumbria Police took over in 1974, moving operations to Ashington and Ponteland.
The old HQ also housed magistrates courts and a fire station. It later became part of Northumbria Police’s disaster recovery setup, which, in 2011, moved to South Shields when a new computer system was introduced.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:58 (CET).