ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how the cultural life of Newcastle expanded in the last quarter of the eighteenth century through the construction of new assembly rooms. Among the undiscovered treasures of provincial archives are repositories of eighteenth-century documents relating to the construction and maintenance of assembly rooms, detailed and informative sources which are only beginning to receive the attention of historians. The story of the Newcastle assembly rooms also sheds light upon the social and economic constraints, and hazards attendant upon public building projects in English provincial towns at this time. The plan for purpose-built assembly rooms in Newcastle thus marked the growing aspirations of an expanding middle class population, permanently resident in the town. Contemporary sources indicate the success and popularity of the Newcastle assembly rooms in the first two decades of the building's existence, and the degree to which local elites capitalised upon their investment in the rooms through the annual rituals of public display.
