Gateshead

Port in Tyne and Wear, northeast England; population (2001, Metropolitan District) 191,150. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. Formerly a port for the Tyne coalfields and a railway workshop centre, it now manufactures chemicals, plastics, and glass; other industries include engineering, printing, and tourism.

Features Metroland, in the Metro Centre shopping complex, is a major tourist attraction. As part of the Tyneside South Bank development (partly funded by the National Lottery), the Baltic Flour Mills are undergoing conversion into an international centre for the visual arts, the New International Art Gallery, scheduled to open in 2000. The Angel of the North, a steel sculpture (20 m/65 ft high) overlooking Gateshead, by Anthony Gormley, was erected in 1998. It is sited 5 km/3 mi from the town, and is Britain's largest sculpture.

History The town received its first charter in 1164. Coal deposits were discovered in the vicinity in the 14th century. It developed as a thriving port and centre of heavy industry during the 19th century. In 1849 a high-level bridge, 34 m/112 ft above river level, was built to carry road and rail traffic between the high ground on either bank of the Tyne. The town was severely damaged by fire in 1854.