Editing Gateshead (section)

===Early===
There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the [[Swing Bridge, River Tyne|Swing Bridge]] now stands, since Roman times.

The first recorded mention of Gateshead is in the writings of the [[Bede|Venerable Bede]] who referred to an Abbot of Gateshead called Utta in 623. In 1068 [[William the Conqueror]] defeated the forces of [[Edgar the Ætheling]] and [[Malcolm III of Scotland|Malcolm]] king of Scotland ([[Shakespeare]]'s [[Malcolm (Macbeth)|Malcolm]]) on Gateshead Fell (now [[Low Fell]] and [[Sheriff Hill]]).

During medieval times Gateshead was under the jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Durham]]. At this time the area was largely forest with some agricultural land. The forest was the subject of Gateshead's first charter, granted in the 12th century by [[Hugh du Puiset]], Bishop of Durham. An alternative spelling may be "Gatishevede", as seen in a legal record, dated 1430.<ref>Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP 40 / 677; National Archives; {{cite web |url=http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no677/aCP40no677fronts/IMG_0752.htm |title=AALT Page |access-date=28 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518060628/http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no677/aCP40no677fronts/IMG_0752.htm |archive-date=18 May 2013 }}; last entry on the image, the home of William Philypson, a tanner.</ref>