In the early period from 1850 the diocese was a suffragan of the Metropolitan See of Westminster, but under Pope Pius X, on 28 October 1911, it was assigned to the newly created Province of Liverpool.
The present diocese covers an area of 7,700 km2 of the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and that part of Cleveland which is north of the River Tees.
The see is in the City of Newcastle upon Tyne where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary, which was consecrated on 21 August 1860.
The Right Reverend Séamus Cunningham, who was appointed the 13th Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle by Pope Benedict XVI on 9 January 2009.
Bishop Byrne submitted his resignation early, at the age of 66, citing that his episcopal ministry had become "too great a burden.