The path, (above) situated at the back of the former Domestos works and close to the Ouseburn school. was created in the 1930's using about 200 headstones from the Ballast Hills Burial Ground. The burial ground, known locally as Plaguey Fields, was used from the 17C up until 1853

Extracts from the Newcastle Courant

BALLAST HILLS BURIAL-PLACE. From: 'Protestant Dissent: Chapels and meeting-houses', Historical Account of Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Including the Borough of Gateshead (1827),

his cemetery is situated a short distance east of the Ouseburn, and, as the name indicates, is covered with ballast. Some have inferred, from the silence of Bourne on the subject, that this place was not used for sepulchre in his time; but, considering the peculiar cast of mind in this historian, such reasoning is certainly not conclusive. The probability is, that these hills, or wastes, were used by the earliest Scottish emigrants as a place for burying their dead; for the old, stern, unbending Presbyterians, considered the very entrance into an Episcopal church as an overt act of idolatry, and would by no means suffer the funeral service to be read over their dead. This burialplace was formerly much larger; for houses have been built, and glass-house cinders poured over the graves of many who had been interred without the present enclosed ground. It does not appear that any enclosure was made until the year 1785, when the following order was made by the common council:—
"At a common council held the fourth day of April, 1785, the inhabitants of the East Ballast Hills petitioned, setting forth, that numbers of swine were daily observed working and grubbing among the graves there, near the petitioners' dwelling houses, to the great annoyance of the petitioners, and of many others who pass and re-pass that way. That there were many persons Dissenting from the Church of England, who, of choice, make use of that ground for burying in; and who, if the common council would give them leave, would, by a contribution among them, enclose the said burial-ground with a wall or paling, and would keep such wall or paling in repair, in order to prevent the aforesaid disagreeable nuisance; but, nevertheless, would wish to have it as free for the burial of all manner of persons, without any advance of burial-fees, and as much under the power and direction of the common council, as the same hitherto hath been, and now is. They therefore prayed the common council to permit the said burial-ground to be enclosed for the purpose aforesaid.
"The said petition, being read, was referred to a committee; and thereupon Edward Mosley, Charles Atkinson, and Hugh Hornby, Esqrs, and aldermen, Mr. William Cramlington, and Mr. John Wallis, have reported, that they had considered the contents of the petition, and viewed the said burial-ground; and had received from Mr. Joshua Henzell, one of the owners or lessees of the glass-houses adjacent, the fullest assurances that a compliance with the request of the petitioners will not, in any degree, interfere with the liberties or privileges heretofore demised by this corporation to the owners of any of the said glass-houses, or their trustees. The said committee, therefore, recommended that permission be granted to Messrs. John Kidd, William Davidson, and John Day, to enclose, at their own expense, the said burial ground (in the line and extent staked out and shewn to the said committee on their view), and to build, on some proper and convenient part of the said burial-ground, a small dwelling-house for the grave-digger; such enclosure and house to be made under the direction of the town-surveyor. Provided, that after such enclosure is made, all persons be permitted to bury there as heretofore, on payment of the usual fees, and that such fees be not raised or enhanced; and that the appointment of the grave-digger, and the direction and management of the said burial-ground, do continue in this corporation, as it hitherto hath been. All which the committee humbly submitted to the common council.
"The said report, being read, is approved of, agreed to, and confirmed. It is therefore ordered, that the said John Kidd, William Davidson, and John Day, be permitted to enclose the said burial-ground accordingly, and to build thereon such house, under such direction, and subject to such conditions and restrictions as aforesaid.—James Rudman, Mayor."
After the above grant was obtained, a committee of the Dissenting body in this town went from house to house, soliciting subscriptions for making a proper enclosure around this burial-ground, and erecting a house for the sexton. This work was executed in 1786; and the late Michael Callender planted a few trees around the wall for ornament, of which no vestige now remains. A stone was built into the south-east end of the sexton's house, recording the grant just made by the corporation; but the town-surveyor ordered it to be pulled down, and it now lies near the entrance of the gate. Considering the extreme jealousy with which the corporation have always guarded their rights, it is not probable that any grave-stones would be suffered to stand here without their special permission. This perhaps was granted before, or soon after, the Revolution. The oldest stone remaining records an interment near the commencement of the last century:—"The Buriall Place of Patrick Sandalls of ............. Baker And Margratt his wife she De Part ed ys life ye 16e of Decembr 1708." On an upright stone is the following inscription:—"The Burial-place of John and Margaret Brunton, with six children who died in infancy, and Joseph in the prime of life. In 1796, this stone was erected, in grateful remembrance of his parents, by Benjamin Brunton, their only surviving son, in place of one set up by his father, which, after standing 70 years, fell into decay. It is said the first one in this ground." The old stone still lies at the foot of B. Brunton's grave. Sandall's grave-stone shews that Mr. Brunton's information was incorrect.

It does not accord with the plan of this work to notice all the melancholy memorials of the dead which are crowded into this large burial-ground. In May, 1817, it contained 621 grave-stones; but the number at present probably exceeds 700. The average number of interments, from 1820 to 1825 inclusive, was 599 annually. The expense of interment is very moderate; for no funeral service is read, the ground not being attached to any church. Sometimes, however, an exhortation is delivered, or a prayer is pronounced, by the minister of the deceased. This ground is peculiarly well adapted for the purposes of sepulchre: it is light and dry, while the calcareous nature of the ballast accelerates the decomposition of the dead.
More bodies are interred in this burying-ground than in all the church-yards in the town; and, in consequence, it has recently been found inadequate to accommodate the numerous occupants, without prematurely disturbing the remains of those who had gone before, and thus distressing the feelings of the living. The Dissenting ministers, and some leading members of their congregations, held several conferences on this important subject; and at length it was resolved to hold a public meeting in the Orphan House, on the 14th June, 1825, to take into consideration the propriety of obtaining a new place of burial. At this meeting, James Losh, Esq. presided; and, on the motion of Mr. John Fenwick, it was unanimously resolved that three acres of freehold ground on the west or north-west side of Newcastle be purchased; that the sum of £2000 be raised in 200 shares, at £10 each; and that one-fourth of the ground be sold for family burial-places, the rest to be used as a place of general sepulchre. (fn. 48) On the motion of the Rev. James Pringle, the committee then appointed were also instructed to adopt measures for obtaining the enlargement and improvement of the Ballast Hills burying-ground.
Accordingly, on the 6th July, 1825, the committee presented a petition to the common council, praying that the waste ground between the north wall of the present burying-ground and the Shields turnpike be granted, for the purpose of enlarging this public cemetery, agreeably to a plan made by Mr. John Bell, and accompanying the petition. On September 29, the petition was referred by the common council to a committee, chosen by themselves, called the Ballast Hills Burying-ground Committee. At this time, an application was made for leave to form a waggon-way across the waste ground prayed for; in consequence of which, the consideration of the petition was deferred. The committee petitioned a second time, and for a smaller portion of ground; and in September, 1826, the corporation decided to grant 23 yards northwards from the present burying-ground, provided that the whole be enclosed by a wall 4½ feet high, and surmounted by an iron railing also 4½ feet in height; that two lodges and a gateway be built on the north side; and that the present sexton's house be pulled down, and two slips of the present ground be added to the adjoining public roads. The waste ground granted by this order measures 1674 square yards, and the old ground measures 2 acres, 3 roods, 19 poles; so that, after the small angles mentioned above are taken off, this burial-place will contain above three acres of ground. The corporation have still the appointment of the sexton, and are paid sixpence for each body interred.