Place Name
It is possible that this was named after a former inn called the Castle which was located here but more probably after the city Newcastle Upon Tyne and is a reference to the coal trade. Today the vicinity appears most definitely landlocked but until it was paved over, the River Fleet ran by here. Vessels, chiefly from Newcastle, loaded with coal would make their way up the River Thames and up the Fleet to be unloaded at the coal yards. This continued until the 17thCentury despite the fact that the tributary needed regular clearing of sewage, silt and the discarded waste of London’s inhabitants. Eventually, complaints about the cost of these works “to bring up a few Chaldrons of Coles to two or three Pedling Fewl Marchants” was heeded and the river was paved over, ending the trade.
