Tyne and Wear () is a ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south. The county contains the two cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland. The notable towns in the county are Birtley, Blaydon Felling, Gateshead, Hebburn, Hetton-le-Hole, Houghton-le-Spring, Jarrow, Killingworth, North Shields, South Shields, Tynemouth, Wallsend, Washington and Whitley Bay.
The county is largely urbanised, with an area of and an estimated population of in . Newcastle is on the north bank of the River Tyne in the centre of the county, and Gateshead opposite on the south bank. South Shields lies in the east at the river's mouth, and the city of Sunderland in the south-east at the mouth of the River Wear. Nearly all of the county's settlements belong to the Tyneside or Wearside conurbations, the latter of which extends into County Durham. For local government purposes Tyne and Wear comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside. The borough councils collaborate through the North East Combined Authority, which also includes Durham County Council and Northumberland County Council. The county was created in 1974 from south-east Northumberland and north-east County Durham.
The most notable geographic features of the county are the River Tyne and River Wear, after which it is named and along which its major settlements developed. The county is also notable for its coastline to the North Sea in the east, which is characterised by tall limestone cliffs and wide beaches.
History In the late 600s and into the 700s, St. Bede lived as a monk at the monastery of St. Peter and of St. Paul writing histories of the Early Middle Ages including the Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Roughly 150 years ago, in the village of Marsden in South Shields, Souter Lighthouse was built, the first electric structure of this type.
The Local Government Act 1888 constituted Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and Sunderland as county boroughs (Newcastle had "county corporate" status as the "County and Town of Newcastle upon Tyne" since 1400). Tynemouth joined them in 1904. Between the county boroughs, various other settlements also formed part of the administrative counties of Durham and of Northumberland.
The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised by the government as early as 1935, when a Royal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed.London Gazette, 10 May 1935 The three commissioners were to:
examine the system of local government in the areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrangements with a view to securing greater economy and efficiency, and to make recommendations.
The report of the Royal Commission, published in 1937,Local Government in the Tyneside Area (Cmd.5402) recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local-government purposes. The second-tier units would form by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in the area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs.Government of Tyneside : a Regional Council. The Times. 19 March 1937.
A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside". The 1937 proposals never came into operation: local authorities could not agree on a scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one.Local Government on Tyneside. Sir K. Wood and Report of Commission. The Times. 22 September 1937.
Tyneside (excluding Sunderland) was a special review area under the Local Government Act 1958. The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs. This was not implemented. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed a Tyneside unitary authority, again excluding Sunderland, which would have set up a separate East Durham unitary authority.
The white paper that led to the Local Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would become Tees Valley). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back the southern edge of the area, and gave it the name "Tyneside". The name "Tyneside" proved controversial on Wearside, and a government amendment changed the name to "Tyne and Wear" at the request of Sunderland County Borough Council.Hansard, 6 July 1972, column 909
Post-1974 Pre-1974 Metropolitan county Metropolitan boroughs County boroughs Non-county boroughsUrban districts Rural districts Gateshead Gateshead— Blaydon • Felling • Ryton • Whickham Chester-le-Street Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne— Gosforth • Newburn Castle Ward North Tyneside Tynemouth Wallsend • Whitley Bay Longbenton • Seaton Valley— South Tyneside South Shields Jarrow Boldon • Hebburn— Sunderland Sunderland— Washington • Houghton-le-Spring • Hetton-le-Hole Easington
Geography Climate Tyne and Wear either has or closely borders two official Met Office stations, neither located in one of the major urban centres. The locations for those are in Tynemouth, where the river Tyne meets the North Sea, east of Newcastle; and inland at Durham, around south-west of Sunderland. There are some clear differences between the two stations' temperature and precipitation patterns, even though both have a cool-summer and mild-winter oceanic climate.
Green belt
Tyne and Wear contains green belt interspersed throughout the county, mainly on the fringes of the Tyneside/Wearside conurbation. There is also an inter-urban line of belt helping to keep the districts of South Tyneside, Gateshead, and Sunderland separated. It was first drawn up from the 1950s. All the county's districts contain some portion of belt.
Governance Local government Since 1986, Tyne and Wear has been governed principally by the councils of its five metropolitan boroughs, namely Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council, North Tyneside Council, South Tyneside Council, and Sunderland City Council.
Regional government The North East Combined Authority is a strategic authority established in 2024. It provides a forum for Tyne and Wear's five metropolitan borough councils to collaborate with each other, Northumberland County Council, and Durham County Council. The authority has eight voting and two non-voting members. The voting members are a directly elected mayor and one councillor appointed by each of the member councils, and the non-voting members are appointed by the combined authority to represent the interests of the business sector and the voluntary sector respectively. Since the 2024 North East mayoral election the mayor has been Kim McGuinness of the Labour Party.
Nexus, the passenger transport executive for Tyne and Wear, is an executive body of the combined authority. It is responsible for many aspects of public transport within the county, for example the Tyne and Wear Metro.
History The Local Government Act 1888 reformed English local government. Northumberland and County Durham were reconstituted as administrative counties, with elected county councils. Newcastle-upon-Tyne was considered to be within Northumberland and Gateshead, South Shields, and Sunderland within County Durham, but the four were made county boroughs and therefore had independent local government. Tynemouth became a county borough in 1904.
The Local Government Act 1972 reformed English local government again, and in 1974 the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear was created from north-east County Durham and south-east Northumberland, including the five county boroughs within this area. The provision of local government services was divided between Tyne and Wear County Council and five metropolitan borough councils. In 1986 the county council was abolished, with the metropolitan borough councils assuming many of its responsibilities.
Parliametary constituencies
Tyne and Wear is divided into 12 parliamentary constituencies. Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold; South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has never returned a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons since the Reform Act of 1832.
Settlements
Italics indicate the district centre. For a complete list of all villages, towns and cities see the list of places in Tyne and Wear. Borough/City Locality Authority Metropolitan Borough of GatesheadGateshead Birtley Blaydon Low Fell Rowlands Gill Ryton Sheriff Hill Whickham Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council City of Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne – city centre Blakelaw Byker ElswickFenhamGosforth Jesmond Heaton Newburn North Kenton Throckley Walbottle Walker Westerhope West Moor Newcastle upon Tyne City Council Metropolitan Borough of North TynesideWallsend Annitsford Backworth Benton Cullercoats Dudley Earsdon Fordley Forest Hall Killingworth Longbenton Monkseaton North Shields Preston Tynemouth Whitley Bay Wideopen North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council Metropolitan Borough of South TynesideSouth Shields Boldon Cleadon Harton Hebburn Jarrow Westoe Whitburn South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council City of SunderlandSunderland Castletown Fulwell Hendon Herrington Hetton-le-Hole Houghton-le-Spring Hylton Red House Newbottle Penshaw Rainton Ryhope Seaburn Shiney Row Silksworth South Hylton Southwick Springwell Village Warden Law Washington Sunderland City Council
Education Higher Two campuses of Sunderland University are in Sunderland, while Newcastle contains the two campuses of Northumbria University as well as the Newcastle University main campus.
Further Burnside College ESPA College Gateshead College Harton Academy and Sixth Form Newcastle College Newcastle Sixth Form College Tyne Metropolitan College South Tyneside College Sunderland College
Places of interest
Gateshead Angel of the North BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art Dunston Staiths Gateshead International Stadium Gibside – MetroCentre Saltwell Park – Shipley Art Gallery The Sage Gateshead Joint Gateshead and other Beamish Museum (with County Durham) – Tanfield Railway, Sunniside (with County Durham) – Tyne Bridge (with Newcastle) Gateshead Millennium Bridge (with Newcastle)Newcastle Discovery Museum – Hadrian's Wall – Great North Museum: Hancock – Jesmond Dene – Newcastle Castle Keep – St James' Park – Leazes Park – Centre for Life Town Moor – Tyneside cinema Chinatown, Newcastle Quayside Utilita Arena Newcastle Newcastle Cathedral – Laing Art Gallery Theatre Royal – Northumberland Street Grey Street Grey's Monument The Biscuit FactoryNorth Tyneside Rising Sun Country Park – Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum, Wallsend – Spanish City, Whitley Bay St Mary's Island bird reserve Tynemouth Castle and Priory – South Tyneside Arbeia Roman Fort & Museum, South Shields – Marsden Rock bird reserve Souter Point Lighthouse – Bede's World, Jarrow Sunderland The Museum and Winter Gardens – Mowbray Park – Seaburn and Roker Beaches Barnes Park – The National Glass Hylton Castle –